Sami Kindergarten Protests Force Norwegian Labour Party Leader to Cancel Visit – Controversy Surrounding Fosen Case and Wind Power Development

According to Aftenposten On 25 January, the parents at the Sami kindergarten Cizaš on Tøyen in Oslo were informed that Støre and Minister of Education Kari Nessa Nordtun (Ap) would be visiting on 6 February in connection with the Sami’s national day.

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Four days later the counter notification came. According to the newspaper, the reason must have been that several parents at the kindergarten had announced that they would keep their children at home in protest against Støre and the government’s handling of the inflamed Fosen case.

– I naturally respect the parents’ wish not to have visitors, Støre tells Aftenposten when asked what he thinks about the fact that he was not welcome.

Read also: 20 young people indicted for protests in connection with the Fosen case

The Norwegian Institution for Human Rights has requested an independent evaluation of the authorities’ handling of the Fosen case.

* The two wind power plants at Fosen and Roan were completed in 2018 and 2019. It has cost an estimated NOK 6 billion to set up the total of 151 wind turbines. On 11 October 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that the licenses granted in connection with the construction of two wind power plants contravene the minority protection of the reindeer herding Sami on Fosen. The concessions are therefore invalid.

The authorities should take measures to protect the rights of the Sami people in the green shift, believes the Norwegian Institute for Human Rights (NIM).

Through the recent report “Canary in the Coal Mine”, NIM has looked at what measures the state can take to protect Sami rights against nature encroachment and the green shift.

Read also: Statkraft is considering wind power development in Finnmark. The reindeer owners flatly say no

– Although it is not easy, Norway has the prerequisites to cut greenhouse gas emissions quickly and avoid interventions with significant negative consequences in Sami areas of use, said director Adele Matheson Mestad in NIM in a press release last week.

In 2021, the Supreme Court concluded that the licenses granted in connection with the construction of two wind power plants at Fosen violate the human rights of the reindeer herders there. The concessions were thus granted on an invalid basis.

Among other things, NIM wants an independent evaluation of the authorities’ handling of the Fosen case in order to prevent similar human rights violations in the future. They also want to adopt a national plan for the development of wind power on land.

2024-02-05 21:06:32


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