Authorities accept proforma address for crew members

A recent high court ruling has revealed that officers and fishermen have been registered in the population register at Royal Greenland's head office at Qasapi 4 in Nuuk.

The ruling also allows people with this registration to earn the right to man a fishing vessel according to the manning regulations – even if the address is not approved as a residence at all.

Chief of Staff Lone Rosengreen Pedersen is responsible for citizen services in Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq and has testified in court in both 2025 and 2026. In court in 2025, she said that Qasapi 4 has been used as a proforma address since before her time in the position, which she took on in 2016.

She herself tried to change Royal Greenland's use of the address, but Royal Greenland was not interested in stopping, and GFJK, Greenland's Fisheries and Hunting Control, would not do anything about it either.

Why accept incorrect registrations?

We have sent some follow-up questions and received a written answer from Lone Rosengreen Pedersen. They follow below.

Why did citizen services accept having citizens listed under addresses where you knew very well that they did not really live?

– Historically, there may have been cases where registrations have not been sufficiently clarified in relation to the rules.

– Today, the practice is clear: an address in the CPR must reflect where a person actually lives and stays, and that is what we administer according to. If we become aware of registrations that are incorrect, they are investigated and handled according to applicable rules.

To my knowledge, citizens cannot register moving to unapproved housing themselves. Have employees in citizen services actively sat and entered this pro forma address on behalf of the fishermen?

– Registration in the CPR is either based on the citizen's own information or by contacting citizen services, where the information is registered administratively.

– I cannot go into specific cases or describe individual registrations, but the general principle is that it is the citizen's responsibility to provide the correct address, and the municipality registers based on that information.

Cannot provide the number

It is part of the story that, according to her own testimony, Lone Rosengreen Pedersen was told by another person in the civil service that the practice should simply be accepted. “A lid has been put on it,” was the message according to the court documents.

Who was it that told you that?

– I cannot comment on internal matters or statements from individuals. My focus as head of citizen services is that we currently administer the area correctly and in accordance with applicable regulations, responds Lone Rosengreen Pedersen.

Can citizen services then provide information on how many people are currently registered as residents of Qasapi 4 in Nuuk, and how many have historically done so?

– I cannot provide information about specific addresses or the number of registered persons for reasons of data protection. In general, we work to ensure that registrations in the CPR are correct, and if there is doubt about an address, it is investigated specifically, says Lone Rosengreen Pedersen.

GFJK: We can do nothing else

It has also emerged in the High Court that Greenland Fisheries and Hunting Control today accepts Qasapi 4 as a legal address in Greenland in relation to the staffing rules.

– GFJK can do nothing but follow what is in the population register, and it is the municipality's task to keep track of the population register, says Fisheries and Hunting Control Manager Claus E. Nielsen.

We have also asked Royal Greenland why they ignored Lone Rosengreen Pedersen's inquiries that Qasapi 4 was not a legal address.

– During the period in question, there was general uncertainty about the understanding of the staffing rules. This uncertainty was not limited to Royal Greenland, but was felt widely in the industry. Subsequently, clarity has been created about the rules, and the situation has since been handled in accordance with current practice, Royal Greenland writes.