Legal action over civilian relocations

Wikipedia

While the protection of Greenland offered by the airbase is not disputed,[10] the relocation of the 1950s remains a controversial issue in Greenland more than half a century later, with ongoing demands for land reclamation being proposed by Greenlandic politicians.[7] The current Government of Greenland does not have influence over the continued existence of the airbase at the site, as foreign policy remains the prerogative of the Government of Denmark. From the mid-1980s onwards, the then-Greenland Home Rule government worked together with the Government of Denmark to resolve the social effects of the eviction. On 30 September 1986, Denmark and the U.S. agreed to reduce the area outside Greenland’s jurisdiction to half of the original size.[5] In 1997, the Danish government agreed to subsidize the construction of the Qaanaaq Airport (47 million DKK), in agreement with the Home Rule government.[5]

On 28 November 2003, the Danish Supreme Court ruled on the relocation issue denying the residents of Qaanaaq the right to return to the former village in Pituffik.[7] The Greenlanders, numbering 428 in the case, were represented by the Hingitaq 53 group.[5] That decision was later appealed in the European Court of Human Rights.[7] The Court unanimously declared the application inadmissible.[11]

There has also been internal debate in Greenland concerning demands to force the airbase to pay lease fees for its use of the land.[12]

The National Space Institute at the Technical University of Denmark operates the Thule Research Station at Pituffik, which is crewed up to two months a year.[13]

5. Udvalg rystet over hemmeligholdelse. Sermitsiaq (in Danish). 12 November 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012.

7. HINGITAQ 53 vs. Denmark, Application No. 18584/04 (decision from European Court of Human Rights as to admissibility of application). Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW).

10. Afdæmpet missildebat. Sermitsiaq (in Danish). 5 December 2006. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012.

11. HINGITAQ 53 vs. Denmark, Application No. 18584/04 (decision from European Court of Human Rights as to admissibility of application). Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW).

12. Atassut vil have pris på Pituffik. Sermitsiaq (in Danish). 23 November 2007. Archived from the original on 26 January 2008.

13. Thule Research Station, Technical University of Denmark | Isaaffik. www.isaaffik.org.

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