Norway Accused of Unfairly Taking Away Immigrant Children

One August day, Airida Pettersen received the news many immigrant mothers have come to dread: School representatives told the Lithuanian that child welfare officials removed her two children from the classroom and placed them in a foster home

In this photo taken Friday, May 11, 2015, Feridun Mustafaoglu hold pictures of his children in his small one-room rental during an interview with The Associated Press, in Stavanger, Norway. Mustafaoglu helped his wife and two sons flee to Turkey after a tip-off that Norwegian child protection services were about to take custody of the children. After a series of highly charged custody disputes, Norway now faces accusations of cultural insensitivity at best and child theft at worst, as increasing numbers of immigrant children are being seized by officials and handed over to Norwegian foster families. AP Photo/David Keyton

STAVANGER, Norway—One August day, Airida Pettersen received the news many immigrant mothers have come to dread: School representatives told the Lithuanian that child welfare officials removed her two children from the classroom and placed them in a foster home.

She pleaded to know why — but she said nobody would give her a straight answer.

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