Icebergs in the sea off the coastal town of Ilulissat in western Greenland on June 23, 2018 Photo: IC

Six Inuits who were snatched from their families in Greenland and taken to Denmark 70 years ago are demanding compensation from Copenhagen for a lost childhood, their lawyer said Monday.

In 1951, Denmark took 22 children from its former colony away from their families, promising them a better life and the chance to return to Greenland as part of a new Danish-educated elite.

Six survivors of the 22, now in their seventies, are each demanding 33,600 euros ($38,000) as compensation in a letter sent to the Danish prime minister.

"They lost their families, their language, their culture and their sense of belonging," their counsel Mads Pramming told the Politiken newspaper. 

Once they returned to Greenland, they were placed in orphanages although they had parents. Many of them lost touch with their families completely.

"It was a violation of their right to a private life, a family life" in line with the European Convention on Human Rights, he said.

Pramming said he would give the prime minister's office two weeks to respond, failing which he would sue.

Greenland was a Danish colony until 1953 but is now autonomous territory.

In December, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen formally apologized, saying: "We cannot change what happened but we can assume our responsibilities and apologize to those we should have taken care of but failed."

Social Affairs Minister Astrid Krag told Politiken that the apology was "key" and that it was "important that we learn from past errors so that history does not repeat itself."

AFP