A Somali Muslim refugee has won a key victory for Muslims in Europe after Europe’s top rights court ruled that Norwegian authorities violated the Muslim woman’s rights when they removed her child from her care and placed him with a Christian family.
“Both my client and I are pleased with the unanimous verdict,” Anna Lubin, the attorney of Mariya Abdi Ibrahim, told Courthouse News via email.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) made the important decision on Friday, ruling that a Muslim child cannot be given a foster family that is incompatible with his or her belief and culture.
The decision concluded a lawsuit filed by İbrahim, who came to Norway as a refugee, fleeing civil war in Somalia 11 years ago.
When her son was 10 months old, the Norwegian Child Welfare Services removed him from Ibrahim’s care, citing neglect and abuse. He was adopted by a Norwegian couple who are members of the Evangelical Mission Covenant Church and cut all ties with his biological mother.
After her attempt to block the removal of her son failed, the now 28-year-old requested that he be placed with another Somalian or Muslim family, but the Norwegian court denied her request. Ibrahim wanted her son to maintain ties to his Somalian heritage and her Muslim faith.
Failing Refugees
Friday’s decision from the Strasbourg court found that the Norwegian authorities failed to take into account the boy’s religious and cultural background.
“The arrangements … failed to take due account of the applicant’s interest in allowing [her son] to retain at least some ties to his cultural and religious origins,” the 17-judge panel wrote.
The court ordered Oslo to pay Ibrahim 30,000 euros ($33,000) in damages.
Islam is the second-largest religion in Norway after Christianity. As of 2020, the number of Muslims living in Norway was 182,826 (3.4% of the population of 5,402,171.
The majority of Muslims in Norway are Sunni, with a significant Shia minority. Fifty-five percent of Muslims in the country live in the counties of Oslo and Akershus.
The vast majority have an immigrant background, with Norwegians of Pakistani descent being the most visible and well-known group.
