Original subtitles

Hello and welcome to Global Eye, a programme that brings

you unmissable investigations and reporting from around

the world made by teams from across the BBC's World Service.

I'm Andrew Harding, the BBC's Paris correspondent.

France is one of Europe's most powerful democracies,

but it's now wrestling with chronic instability - a cycle of protests,

collapsing governments and political deadlock.

I'll be tracing the path to this crisis and assessing

whether the French Republic, created to bring stability

after years of upheaval, can still hold together today.

Also on this week's programme, we'll take a look at how Greenlandic

parents across Denmark are fighting to be reunited with children

forcibly taken into care.

And it's one of the world's hottest commodities,

yet most of us walk past it without ever realising

its true worth.

We'll uncover the remarkable story behind the surprising

material at the centre of a global smuggling trade.

To me, the French tend to convey an impressive sense

of certainty about life - the right way to order your steak,

the right way to behave in public, a quiet confidence in the power

of the state.

But that seems to be changing.

Politics has always been a noisy business here,

but the rise of the hard right and the collapse of the centre

ground of French politics has left this country reeling,

uncertain, even alarmed.

It was a seismic moment in June 2024 - President Macron abruptly

dissolved the National Assembly, France's Parliament,

mid-term and called a snap election.

Macron framed it as a necessary response to the surge of the far

right after a spectacular showing by Marine Le Pen's National Rally

in European parliamentary elections.

What followed was uncomfortable and unexpected - a three-way split

between, on the left, the New Popular Front alliance,

the centre ground dominated by Macron's Ensemble party,

and the far-right National Rally.

The result?

A hung parliament and a deadlock.

A deadlock now testing France's 70-year-old constitutional

system to the limit.

This is France's fifth political regime.

The chaotic Fourth Republic ran from 1946 to '58,

with 16 prime ministers and 21 governments, none of which lasted

much longer than a year.

When President Charles de Gaulle established the Fifth Republic,

he significantly strengthened presidential powers while reducing

the influence of the Prime Minister and Parliament.

At the time, strong parties on the left and right usually took

turns holding a parliamentary majority, so the system

largely works.

But what if that gentle pendulum swing between two mainstream parties

suddenly goes haywire?

The answer is gridlock.

Which is what's happening now.

Since President Macron called those elections in 2024, France has cycled

through an astonishing clutch of prime ministers, all with one

difficulty in common - getting agreement for their tax

and spending plans.

One after the other, they attempted to strike a budget

deal but failed and quit - in one case after just

a month in power.

Sebastien Lecornu was then reappointed as Prime Minister

just four days after that resignation speech.

So what does this mean for the citizens of the EU's

second largest economy?

Since Macron first became president in 2017, promising to cut taxes,

increase growth and reduce the role of the state, both public spending

and debt have increased.

France's crippling national debt is now far bigger than

what European Union rules allow.

The bloc's second biggest economy now rivals Greece and Italy in terms

of the cash it needs to borrow every year.

The inability to pass budgets or financial reforms has triggered

mass demonstrations, strikes and a surge in protests.

There is a pervasive sense of economic anxiety

on the streets of Paris.

One of the most vocal forces has been the Bloquons Tout -

Let's Block Everything movement - which started on social media

and has spread across France.

Striking workers have also closed pharmacies and shuttered schools,

angered by plans to raise the retirement age to 64.

After eight years in office, Emmanuel Macron's position

as president is coming under increasing pressure,

with his political rivals calling for him to go.

Opinion polls suggest almost three quarters of voters think

the President should step down too.

Macron himself has remained typically bullish.

But his time is running out and with it his power,

his ability to influence France's future.

Now, from Paris, we're taking you over 600 miles

north-east to Denmark where, following a public outcry,

the government last year banned the use of parental competency

tests, which contributed to hundreds of Greenlandic being taken

from their families after evidence showed the tests were

inappropriate for their culture.

Many of these families are now fighting to get

their children returned to them.

Greenland is a former Danish colony, and roughly a third

of Greenland's population lives on the Danish mainland.

Despite an apology and a pledge by the government to review

around 300 child removals, some families have been told that

for them it's too late.

For BBC Global Women, Sofia Bettiza has been to meet

some of the families who are still fighting

to get their children returned.

Keira's case is one of nearly 300 that the Danish government has

said it wants to review.

Her story sparked widespread outrage, but Zammi's the third

of Keira's children to be taken against her will.

Tests on her parenting ability began more than a decade earlier

after social services became concerned about her eldest

daughter's language development.

What were these parenting competency tests like?

What kind of questions did they ask you?

They asked a question like, who is Mother Teresa?

Some of the tests, I had to play with a doll

and they were criticising me for not having eye contact.

These kinds of questions are part of a far-reaching assessment,

designed to evaluate intellectual and personal capability

to meet a child's needs.

They can cover general knowledge, logic, memory

and emotional understanding.

Parents would normally be required to take these tests

after extensive contact with social services.

Keira's assessment concluded that trauma during her upbringing

affects her parenting, preventing her from meeting

her children's needs.

She says that, on multiple occasions, she was pressured

by psychologists and social workers to have abortions.

The relationship between Greenland and Denmark is steeped

in centuries of colonial rule.

Greenland's population is about 90% indigenous Inuit.

After World War II, Denmark launched a campaign

to modernise its colony, aiming to bring it more in line

with Danish cultural norms.

They were aiming to renew housing, they were aiming to provide

better health services, improve the school system

and education, and many Greenlanders felt kind of overwhelmed by these

policies and felt that the Danish cultural norms were dominating

and that their lives were changing significantly without them

participating fully in this development.

When you intervene into a family and remove a child, this

is always based on some ideas about cultural norms.

For years, campaigners have raised concerns about the way children

are taken from Inuit Greenlandic parents in Denmark.

They say this is the latest in a long line of Danish government

policies that reflect colonial racism towards the

indigenous population.

In 1951, Denmark removed 22 Inuit children from Greenland

in the Little Danes experiment, aiming to raise them

as Danish citizens.

And in 2025, the Danish government apologised for a forced

contraception scandal that spanned decades.

Tina co-founded Sila 360 - an NGO challenging the system.

The way these tests are used is a scandal and it's shocking

and it's dehumanising.

The Danish authorities think that the Greenlandic

people are uncivilised, they are less smart, and actually

they are just less privileged.

While Keira waits, hoping for answers, not every

case is under review.

Some have been permanently closed.

Back in 2010, Johanne was assessed in a parenting competency test.

She did not have an interpreter, even though Danish

is her second language.

The assessment found her to have "mental retardation", but the local

council told us she did not need an interpreter and that her children

faced physical and psychological neglect because of Johanne's alleged

mental health issues, including periods of depression and anxiety.

Her two children were taken from her.

Then, nine years later, Johanne became pregnant again.

We have another picture when he was one day old.

Wow.

Is that you?

Yeah.

That is me.

That is the father.

And son.

And son.

That happiness was short-lived.

Eight months into her pregnancy, Johanne learned that she and her

husband would face the parenting competency tests once again.

The assessment described Johanne as childish and narcissistic.

Ulrik, it said, was self-centred and lacking empathy.

The conclusion - they could not meet the needs of their child.

They felt the outcome was predetermined.

One of the tests Johanne and Ulrik and many of the families

we spoke to had to take is the Rorschach test.

Developed in the 1920s, it analyses personality

traits based on how people interpret abstract inkblots.

In traditional Greenlandic culture,

where many people hunt for their livelihood,

seeing blood from a young age is normal.

But in Denmark, the same response in a psychological test

could be seen as a cause for concern.

But child removals don't just happen because of these tests.

In Denmark, they are part of a much wider process,

one that disproportionately affects Greenlandic people.

There are an estimated 460 Greenlandic children

living outside parental care in Denmark.

Proportionally, Greenlandic parents are thought

to be almost six times more likely to have their children

taken into care than the general population.

I think the whole assessment is problematic.

We have gone through so many cases it's the same.

Same assumptions about alcoholism,

about them being neglected as children.

They have too many prejudices against the Greenlandic people.

They would rather see that the children are brought

up in another Danish home.

Johanne and Ulrik were told that their child would be removed

from their care and permanently adopted.

In 2020, their son was adopted.

Because of that, their case was closed

and will not be reviewed by the government.

They haven't seen him since.

But we've found that more than six months

into the government review, the pace is slow.

It's been six months since a government review began,

and so far only ten cases where a parenting

competency test was used have been reviewed.

Why is progress so slow?

Well, I know that it sounds slow, but I think

that it is also, we are getting started and I suspect

that in the next coming months they will

review even more cases.

Out of those ten cases, only one was found to contain mistakes.

As of today, the government review

has not led to a single Greenlandic child being

returned to their family.

I can't recognise those numbers, I must say.

Those numbers come from the units that you've set up

to review the cases.

So they come from a government agency

that you're in charge of. Yeah.

We want to make sure that we look into every placement

where this test was used to place a child with Greenlandic background.

It is a work in progress, yes.

The local council involved in Johanne and Ulrik's case told us

that the child welfare assessment indicated

"significant concern regarding the parents' overall parenting

abilities...lifestyle and functional level

in daily life."

In Keira's case, the local council told us they can't

comment on individual families,

but said generally "employees would never pressure parents

to have an abortion but only offer advice and guidance."

They added that a decision to place a child in care

happens when there is serious concern about

the "child's health, development and well-being."

In November, just after Zammi's first birthday,

Keira was told by the authorities that, at least for now,

her daughter will remain in foster care.

There's no way to win.

I was never Danish enough.

I was never good enough.

Johanne and Ulrik's future is also unclear.

Their lawyer wants to bring their case to

the European Court of Human Rights.

When their son was just a few days old,

they baptised him, hoping that one day he would find them.

Here's some more great content from the BBC World Service

this week.

We are going to run the country until such time

as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.

And it has to be judicious, because that's what we're all about.

After US Special Forces captured the president

of Venezuela during air strikes on its capital,

Caracas, Americast has done a deep dive into how

the US military were able to storm President Maduro's home

and what kind of intelligence the CIA had.

And as the people of Venezuela react to

the capture of their president, the Global Story podcast asked,

what's next for the country?

You can listen to Americast and The Global Story on BBC Sounds

or wherever you get your podcasts.

Now, to a commodity that's been smuggled

into nearly every country in the world.

Gangs have become involved in the illicit trade,

while its illegal mining and extraction is having

a devastating impact on the environment

and local communities.

It's now in short supply and it's something

that may really surprise you.

Here's more from the World Service's global journalism team.

Sand - it's being smuggled on a global scale.

There are many billions of dollars' worth

of sand being dug up and sold illegally every year.

It's cheap and easy to extract.

It is a low-risk, high-reward business.

So why is sand in such high demand?

The modern world is made of it.

Sand is in concrete, asphalt, glass and silicon.

It even turns up in places you wouldn't expect.

We use sand in cosmetics, in certain kinds of wine.

We use sand in paint.

We use sand to make elastics.

Around 50 billion tonnes of sand and gravel are used every year.

That's enough to cover the whole of Argentina

in a layer one centimetre thick.

90% of all the sand mined goes into the construction industry.

China and India are the biggest consumers.

All over the developing world, hundreds of millions of people

are moving from the countryside into cities every year.

So worldwide, we are building the equivalent

of nine New York Cities every single year.

And not all of the world's sand can be used

for construction.

Desert sands eroded by wind are round.

The best sand for concrete has jagged edges

and comes from rivers.

This shape helps it bind together, making it strong and durable.

Sand is taken from riverbeds by hand or by dredgers,

and more is being extracted than can naturally be replenished.

Globally, the sand market is worth around

$165 billion, but it's nearly impossible

to know how much of that has been sourced illegally.

The estimates range anywhere, you know,

up into the tens of billions of dollars.

We know for sure that there's illegal sand mining

in dozens and dozens of countries.

It happens in Western Europe and North America

on a relatively small scale, and it happens in the developing

world on like a millions of tonnes scale.

Researchers estimate that in these countries

more than 50% of sand mining is illegal,

but no organisation tracks sand, so there isn't international data.

In The Gambia, a one-off Interpol operation

targeting illegal activity found unprecedented levels of

illicit sand mining.

Illegal mining means sand is removed without proper

authorisation or from prohibited areas.

And once it's mixed with legal sand, it's almost impossible to tell

the difference.

It can be transported to a construction site

and no one knows where it came from and nobody asks questions.

It can be moved on a container ship and nobody knows

where the source of it is.

Ease of extraction, high demand for concrete and the fact

that sand is legal to buy and sell

mean that illegal mining continues with little opposition.

And it's often at the local level where exploitation starts

and where so-called sand mafias operate.

It can be either a small villager who's taking sand from

the beach to build his own house, right up to the point where people

who have taken sand and realised how lucrative it is

have risen and formed networks and gangs.

This is usually possible through bribery or intimidation.

There is just major corruption of local and regional governments

in sand mining, because there's very little capacity

to enforce prohibitions.

Criminal activity, including sand mafias,

are making headlines as illegal mining turns violent.

Hundreds of people have been murdered over sand

just in the last few years.

And that's been, I mean, there's documented cases

of this happening in Mexico, in Ghana,

in Indonesia, in many, many countries around the world,

and especially in India.

I was attacked in 2004 by sand miners,

and that's when it became more serious

and more intense for me.

Since then, Sumaira has been campaigning

against illegal sand mining and highlighting the effect

it's having in India and around the world.

Well, if your houses are washed away,

it impacts you immediately.

Even without a catastrophe like a flood,

you can see the effects because you can see the erosion

on a daily basis.

Overmining of rivers and beaches means there's

a greater risk of landslides and flooding,

while dredging has significant consequences

for fragile ecosystems.

When you do that, when you suck up the bottom of a river,

obviously whatever was living down there, whatever kind of fish

and plant life were living on that riverbed,

you've just annihilated their habitat, wiped it out.

New technologies could help.

More concrete than ever is being recycled,

and sand can be created artificially by crushing rocks.

But manufacturing is expensive, and both are energy-intensive.

And as long as extracting sand remains cheap

and plentiful, cracking down on sand smuggling won't be easy.

You need to have communities much more involved

in monitoring illegal sand mining.

You've got to be addressing the corruption.

You need to raise awareness.

And because nobody is paying adequate attention to it,

it goes on and the devastation continues.

Thank you for joining me here in Paris.

We want your feedback on Global Eye,

so let us know what you think on social media

We'll be back next week. Goodbye.