As the United States has recently revived the possibility of annexing Greenland, Denmark's past unequal rule and human rights abuses during the period it directly administered Greenland are drawing renewed attention.
The Danish government is dismissing the U.S. approach, saying "Greenland is not a transaction target," but local reaction in Greenland has been chilly to this remark, which is read as a firm declaration on territorial sovereignty. As Denmark's inhumane population control policy comes under renewed scrutiny, some assess that Denmark's argument of "protection" over Greenland is losing credibility within Greenland.
On the 25th (local time), as diplomatic discussions over Greenland continued, The Times in the United Kingdom and the New York Post in the United States recently reported in succession the testimonies of victims of forced sterilization in Greenland in the past and a move toward a class action. The victims said Denmark treated individuals' bodies as objects of state policy.
According to a compilation of foreign media reports, the crux of the controversy is the "Spiral campaign (Spiral-kampagnen)," which was carried out intensively from 1966 to the early 1970s. Citing the need to curb population growth in Greenland and cut welfare spending, Danish health authorities inserted intrauterine devices (IUDs) into about 4,500 women—roughly half of those of childbearing age. The device prevents pregnancy by hindering sperm movement and blocking implantation of a fertilized egg.
An independent commission set up by the Danish government last year said it had identified numerous victim claims and medical records indicating that in the 1960s and 1970s, the procedures were performed on women, including minors, in Greenland without sufficient explanation or consent. Victim Amarok Petersen told the New York Post, "When I went to the hospital at 27, I learned there was a contraceptive device inside my body," and "At 13, I received no explanation." Petersen said the measure deprived Petersen of the choice to give birth.
In connection with this policy, 143 women claiming harm began legal proceedings in 2024 seeking 300,000 Danish kroner (about 5800 million won) per person in compensation from the Danish government. The Danish government issued an official apology for the policy in Aug. 2025, and in September Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen visited Greenland to meet victims. However, saying it would decide on compensation based on the findings of a fact-finding investigation, the government had maintained a reserved stance, and later, in Dec. 2025, it finalized a compensation plan through a parliamentary agreement to pay 300,000 kroner per person.
Experts see this not as a mere medical mishap but as a policy-level issue. The analysis is that forced sterilization was part of Denmark's long-running assimilation policy toward Greenland. Denmark incorporated its former colony Greenland into its administrative units through a 1953 constitutional amendment. It then pursued structural overhauls across education, housing, and administration with the goal of "modernization."
The "Little Danes" experiment is a representative case. The Danish government sent 22 Greenlandic indigenous children to the mainland to be raised in adoptive families and taught the Danish language and culture. The plan was to cultivate them into Greenland's elite so they would spearhead Danish-ization. However, many of them forgot the Greenlandic language after returning and could not communicate with their families. The BBC said, "They suffered psychological pain amid identity confusion." The Danish government issued an official apology for the experiment in 2020.
Another policy, the forced residence transfer pursued for nearly 20 years until the 1970s after incorporation, dismantled Greenland's indigenous communities. Citing administrative efficiency, Denmark closed small fishing villages and relocated residents to urban apartment complexes. These policies are cited as examples showing that Denmark viewed Greenland not as a community to be protected but as a target for administrative and social reorganization.
Analyses also suggest that rapid changes driven by outside will led to serious long-term social problems. Academia sees the weakening of traditional hunting and fishing bases and the displacement into unemployment and low-skilled labor as having led to alcohol problems and a rise in suicides. Unlike mainland Denmark, which often ranks first or second in national happiness indexes, Greenland is cited as one of the regions with the highest suicide rates in the world. As of 2022, it was about 71 per 100,000 people. The gap is large even compared with Korea, which is among the highest in the OECD for suicide rates. In the same year, it was nearly three times Korea's (about 25).
These social problems have stirred emotional support for independence in Greenland's political sphere. However, Reuters noted that "a cautious view that takes economic and administrative realities into account exists at the same time." Currently, more than half of the Greenland self-rule government's budget relies on subsidies of about 3.9 billion kroner (about 890 billion won) provided by the Danish government. This is a key funding source for civil servant salaries and the operation of medical and education systems. Experts said Greenland's public systems could suffer severe damage if Danish support were to end.
Because a system for training specialized personnel is not sufficiently established, professionals such as doctors, teachers, and senior civil servants are also largely from mainland Denmark. Although Greenlandic is an official language, administrative work and higher education are still run mainly in Danish. This structure both sustains Greenlandic society through Danish support and concentrates major decision-making power outside Greenland.
More recently, changes in the geopolitical environment surrounding the Arctic are also narrowing Greenland's options. In connection with the recent remarks by the Trump administration about annexing Greenland, the actor that responded in the international community was Denmark. The Greenland government limited itself to making restricted remarks in official settings. This shows that although Greenland has autonomy, it still finds it difficult to act as an independent actor on key matters such as diplomacy and defense. As great-power competition over the Arctic intensifies, Greenland—with a population of only about 56,000—has been cited as finding it difficult to shoulder diplomacy and defense on its own, which is another reason going it alone is hard.