A Norwegian parliamentary commission has published a damning report on historical injustices against S mi, Kvens and other indigenous groups.
Norway's parliament set up the Truth and reconciliation commission in 2018 to examine authorities' historic policies and activities relating to indigenous people, including attempts to assimilate them.
The government also was required to look at the impact of Norway's Norwayisation policy on languages and culture and social and mental health effects for individuals and the communities as a whole.
The Commission presented its findings to Norway's parliament, the Stortinget, on Thursday, in part based on interviews with more than 760 people.
The truth is that Norway doesn t have a history to be proud of when it comes to the treatment of our minorities, Dagfinn H ybr ten said in a speech. H ybr ten added that there was an apparent lack of public knowledge about some of the injustices suffered by the minority groups, but hoped the report could help increase awareness.
Norwayization policy is a policy that is pursued by the authorities to assimilate S mi and other minorities into Norwegian society.
For about 100 years, the official Norwegian policy was that S mi and Kvens should be assimilated into Norwegian society, in part by discouraging the use of languages other than Norwegian.
Many have stopped using their original languages and moved to Norwegian, H ybr ten said, noting that S mi languages as well as those of different Norwegian Finns were now endangered as a result of Norwegianisation. The resolution also called for institutions in all sectors of society to look into how they can contribute to reconciliation, Masud Gharahkhani, the president of parliament, said in a speech that the commission had been established because parliament felt Norway had failed to protect its minorities and indigenous people.
Today we get a serious confirm of this, he said.