OSLO: Activist Greta Thunberg and indigenous Sami activists were forcibly removed by police on Wednesday as they blocked access to Norwegian ministries in protest over wind turbines on reindeer herding land.

Police started to break up the demonstrations by physically carrying away members of the group, who were protesting against the use of wind turbines on reindeer herding land in the Fosen region of western Norway.

Thunberg was carried off by two police officers while she was blocking a door at the finance ministry, according to footage on Norwegian television.

The turbines are still in operation despite a landmark ruling more than a year ago by the Norwegian Supreme Court that the project violated the right of Sami families to practise their culture of reindeer husbandry.

The protest began last Thursday when a handful of Sami activists, dressed in their traditional blue and red costume, occupied the entrance hall of the energy ministry.

A growing number of activists then began blocking access to other ministries this week, gradually expanding to more official buildings. They were joined by Sweden’s Greta Thunberg on Sunday.

“This fight is important because it is about human rights being violated,” she told broadcaster TV2.

An indigenous minority of around 100,000 people spread over the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, the Sami have traditionally lived off reindeer herding and fishing.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2023