Christian parents whose two daughters were taken by Swedish social services more than three years ago brought their custody battle to Washington, D.C., on Friday, rallying outside the Swedish Embassy with a crowd of Romanian Americans. Daniel and Bianca Samson have been separated from their daughters, Sara and Tiana, since December 2022, after a false abuse allegation triggered a state intervention that has since been condemned by international observers and the Romanian government.
The ordeal began when Sara, then 11, falsely accused her parents of abuse following an argument over not being allowed to wear makeup or have a smartphone. Although Sara quickly admitted she had lied, Swedish social services removed both girls from the home. Prosecutors found no evidence of abuse, but the state refused to return the children, citing the family's habit of attending church three times a week and their media choices as evidence of what officials called «religious extremism.» In court, Daniel Samson said lawyers used parenting choices against them, such as the girls not being allowed to paint their nails, the lack of a television in the home, and the reading of Bible stories, which authorities described as «violent.»
The separation has taken a severe toll on the children. Samson said both girls have attempted suicide six or seven times while in state custody, and his eldest daughter has since been placed in an adult psychiatric facility. «It's horrible, and it's a desperate situation,» said Romanian Sen. Titus Corlatean, who traveled to speak at the rally. «The girls are asking all the time to be given back to their parents and to Romania, and the social services are lying constantly saying the daughters are refusing to go back to their parents.»
The case has drawn international outrage and support from the Romanian government. In June, the Romanian Senate unanimously approved a declaration demanding Sweden immediately return the Samson girls to their family. Corlatean, who raised the proposal, said Sweden has ignored their demands. «There was no reciprocity in this relationship, no positive answer. It was a simulation of cooperation,» Corlatean told reporters. He noted that the girls are Romanian citizens and accused Sweden of violating the two nations' diplomatic relationship as well as international law. «They are not Swedish citizens, so Sweden is keeping them abusively in their custody against the will of the state of citizenship of our own citizens,» he added.
Since taking their story public, Daniel Samson said the Swedish government has entirely barred the family from seeing the girls and expressed intent to change their names — a move he fears is a precursor to forced adoption. Over the past three years, Samson said his family has lost 14 times in Swedish courts. In March, the Samsons lost their final appeal to regain custody after the European Court of Human Rights ruled their case inadmissible.
Chicago Pastor Cristian Ionescu, senior pastor of Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church and president of the Romanian Pentecostal Churches' Union in the United States, spoke at the rally and expressed alarm about the potential for similar government overreach in the U.S. After fleeing communism in Romania 40 years ago, Ionescu said he is concerned by the rise of socialist and communist politicians in American political races. «I see a surge of socialist and communist politicians and this is always associated with a totalitarian society,» Ionescu said. «In Romania, they didn't confiscate the children from the families, but they were trying to educate them in a worldview and in a system contrary to Christian values, and parents that did not cooperate were persecuted. I hope I will never see this in America. This is why I left Romania almost 40 years ago. America used to be a cradle of true civilization, Christianity. Now it's changing and not for the better, but I hope we will still hold the front line.»
Corlatean hopes the U.S. will lend its support and show «solidarity» for the Romanian family, citing the two nations' «shared Christian values.» He pointed to a precedent: the 2015 case of the Bodnarius, a Christian Romanian Norwegian couple whose five children, including a nursing baby, were placed in foster care by Norway for seven months on allegations they spanked their children. «There were a number of congressmen, members of the Senate, and also through the State Department that signing letters, asking questions and putting pressure on the Norwegian case at the time,» Corlatean explained. «It was very helpful. So there is already a precedent of good cooperation.»
The rally in Washington coincided with similar demonstrations planned this week in Brisbane, Stockholm, London, and Copenhagen. Swedish social services previously declined to comment on individual cases, and the Swedish Embassy said it cannot comment on or intervene in individual cases. «Sweden greatly values its excellent relations with Romania, including as NATO Allies and EU Member States,» the embassy said in a statement. «In Sweden, everyone has the same constitutional rights and freedoms.»
