Social Services Taking Custody of African Children

[guyver1000]

Hi,
I know of at least four African mothers whose children the social services in Finland have taken away or tried taking away. All of these women were single mothers and the reasons why the kids were taken away seemed very frivolous to me. One such example: child is hyperactive and according to social services mother cannot handle the child (mother was against child being taken away, don't have much hopes of getting child back). Another case : mother had a temporary burn out, because of escaping an abusive husband and then kids were taken away(mother trying to get kids back). Two of these cases had been to the Diakonissa laitos in Helsinki to live there for 6 months and after leaving from there, kids were taken. Any similar cases out there?

Someone I know is going to write an article about this, and just wanted to hear if this is really common in Finland as it seems awkward that all these 4 mothers that i know off were African and in similar situations. I know there has been articles in the newspapers about Russian mothers being targeted but no one spoke of Africans. Just wanted to hear if anyone knows any friends that have had their children taken by social services or maybe own experiences if you are an African.

Thanks beforehand for any thoughts as this is a very painful subject to talk about, but if this is common it needs to be addressed.

[Honest]

You must have over-simplified the cases.Nobody takes away children without serious issues. It's possible that the issues which don't look serious to you are considered serious here. Yes there is racism in Finland, just like in any other country but I'll doubt that can ever be state sponsored or at least in so openly way.

[rinso]

In one of the other EU countries is a big fuss going on because child services reacted to slow/did not react (budget cuts) and children were harmed/died.
In a disciplined society like Finland they would act more pro active to prevent disasters.
When dealing with other cultures (often not fully understood) they might react more quickly just to be save.

And in the 4 cases you mention social services got involved so there was a serious problem and somebody alerted them (mother herself/neighbors?).
They're not gestapo knocking on doors and snatching children.

[Upphew]

There must be a darned good reason why any child is removed from a home and put in to a foster family.

They are trigger happy now because the Eerika case.

[guyver1000]

Not playing a race card here.
My wife(Finnish) has been helping out in one of these cases with one woman who had her kid taken away. She has noted that it is frightening how much power the social services have in Finland, they can even tell the police what to do, and some of their reasoning is very unreasonable but you cannot argue with it because they can do what they want.

The reason why I mentioned African children is because there is a great language and cultural barrier involved. Often the mother is misunderstood or the mother does not understand the social services and is not being educated enough to understand the Finnish way of life and what is expected here. Therefore it seems to us like foreign single mothers are an easy target.
But if there are no other cases out there, I guess we are just speculating too much. There are loads of Finnish cases, we know that.
http://www.iltasanomat.fi/perhe/art-1288606885316.html

[Flossy1978]

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[ajdias]

I am sorry to hear about your situation. Have sought the counsel of a lawyer? Before you need it.
Look for a good one, someone that will look into the case and tell you things as they see it, not as they think that you may wish to hear.

Best of luck with your child.