Greenland and Denmark: How past scandals weigh on relations
Ines Eisele

Two scandals involving social experiments with children and forced birth control for girls have put a spotlight on Denmark's treatment of Greenlanders. US President Donald Trump seems eager to exploit grievances.

Some three years ago, a Danish public radio podcast brought to light one of the darkest chapters in relations between Denmark and Greenland: the so-called IUD scandal. The podcast made public a Danish government program that forced thousands of young women in Greenland, many of them minors, to have intrauterine devices (IUD coils) inserted into their wombs as a form of compulsory birth control in the 1960s and 1970s.

Although Greenland — which is mostly populated by indigenous Inuit — was no longer a Danish colony after 1953, it was nevertheless not independent, but rather a Danish province. It was not until 1979 that Greenland got its own parliament and government. And despite enjoying a certain amount of autonomy, it did not have self-administration laws until 2009. Today, Greenland still belongs to Denmark.

Denmark's forced contraception policy aimed to put an end to what Copenhagen viewed as excessive numbers of children born out of wedlock in Greenland as well as slowing overall birthrates on the island. Speaking with DW, Henriette Berthelsen recalls how she and her classmates were sent to public health officers without their parents' knowledge.  

"Lots of girls began crying in the waiting room. We were so young and we never had anything to do with boys. The (IUD) coils that they put in us were big, they were made for grown women. I can still remember the terrible pain."

Berthelsen and other affected women sued the Danish government last year, demanding compensation and an official apology. That is because the forced contraception policy led to health problems and trauma for many of the women caught up in the program.

"We don't get any psychological help from the state. And if we do seek assistance, we have to pay for it ourselves," says Berthelsen.

The IUD scandal, which happened decades ago, has never been resolved and represents just one more burden on an already tense relationship between Greenland and Denmark.

Another scandal, which came to light in the late 1990s, involved a social experiment that began in 1951 and involved 22 children from Greenland. The children, Greenland Inuits between the ages of six and eight, were all removed from their own difficult family situations and given to foster families in Denmark in order to learn to speak Danish and familiarize themselves with Danish culture so as to help "modernize" Greenland when they later returned.

The experiment was a failure. The children were never returned to their parents but instead ended up in orphanages in Greenland. Six of them remained in Denmark, where they were adopted. Many developed psychological problems and half died in early adulthood.

Both the "experiment children" of the "little Danes" program and the girls affected by the IUD scandal highlight Denmark's dubious approach to Greenland's people and, according to cultural historian Ebbe Volquardsen of the University of Greenland, fit the image of past Danish governments passing policies, "aimed at forcing the Inuit to assimilate as much as possible to a Danish lifestyle."

The idea that Greenland and Denmark shared a common history and culture, and that the lives of Greenlanders must be improved was a key justification for Copenhagen as it argued its case for integrating the island into the Kingdom of Denmark before the United Nations.

"For a long time, the Danish side convinced itself of having the best intentions, claiming the need to help Greenlanders. That arrogant view of Greenland culture runs through the course of history," explains Volquardsen.

To this day, Denmark's actions and the financial dependency of many Greenlanders on subsidies from the tiny European nation have led many to simply view the situation as a continuation of colonial structures. For that reason, a large number of Greenland's 57,000 citizens are calling for true independence.  

US President Donald Trump has recognized that desire and is trying to exploit it. The recently inaugurated leader again began speaking about US claims on the oil and mineral rich island so strategically situated in the geopolitically important Arctic as soon as he took office. Trump insists US possession of Greenland is important not only for US national security but for the world. He first floated the idea of buying the island from Denmark in 2019, during his first term in office.

Better to be part of the US than part of Denmark? Not quite. Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede has openly rejected Trump's claim that Greenland might want to voluntarily become part of the US.

Egede said his country is prepared to deepen ties with Washington but added: "We don't want to be Danes. We don't want to be Americans. We want to be Greenlanders."

Nevertheless, Greenland expert Volquardsen says Trump's publicly declared desire to "get" Greenland is helpful in that it has forced Denmark to rethink the way it deals with Greenland's 57,000 citizens. Though, to be fair, it isn't as if Denmark is just now beginning to reconsider its post-colonial ties with Greenland. Discussions about that relationship have gained increasing traction over the past several years, and a reappraisal of events such as the "little Danes" experiment and the IUD scandal have been key in helping move the conversation forward.   

Still, Volquardsen believes that the "ambivalent and thoroughly disquieting situation" that Greenlanders currently find themselves in and which has prompted Denmark to strengthen its military posture in the region, "could also open a window for Greenland to finally push through the changes it has long been demanding."

Gunnar Köhne contributed to this article.

This article was originally published in German and translated by Jon Shelton

https://www.dw.com/en/greenland-and-denmark-how-past-scandals-weigh-on-relations/a-71448548

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