Return to Kosovo
Norwegian refugee policy is based on an assessment of the
individual’s need for protection. Emphasis is given to the UNHCR’s
points of view when processing asylum applications from refugees
from Kosovo in Norway.
In April 2000 the UNHCR issued a
document on return to Kosovo, outlining how the situation is
difficult for the minorities there, while Kosovo Albanians as a
group no longer require protection. Nevertheless, individuals might
be in a vulnerable position, necessitating individual assessment of
asylum applications.
Approximately 8,000 Kosovo
refugees, primarily Kosovo Albanians, were granted temporary
protection on collective grounds in Norway. Some 6,100 of these
were evacuated in the spring of 1999. The others were staying in
Norway with unresolved asylum applications or rejections when the
NATO action was initiated. Temporary protection was granted for one
year with no individual assessment of individual needs for
protection.
Due to the rescinding of the
programme for collective protection of asylum seekers from Kosovo
on 6 August 1999, these permits were not renewed on a collective
basis when they expired in the summer of 2000. After this time
several hundred asylum seekers arrived from Kosovo. These
applications are being processed in the normal manner. Few of these
applicants belong to minorities in Kosovo.
Return from Norway
All those who have received
collective protection in Norway are eligible for return support if
they return while they still have residence permits in Norway. This
means that each person receives NOK 15,000, in addition to having
his or her travel expenses covered. Support is only given once, and
must basically be paid back on re-immigration into Norway.
Kosovo refugees who have had
collective protection, and whose applications for asylum are
rejected, if they have applied for asylum within one month before
the temporary protection expires, may receive support for voluntary
return. This is a special scheme for these asylum seekers. It is,
moreover, a requirement that the person in question leaves Norway
within a month after the rejection from the Norwegian Directorate
of Immigration.
Persons who do not leave
voluntarily after the temporary permits expire, and who may also
have received a final rejection to an application for asylum or
continued residence on other grounds, will be sent to Kosovo in
accordance with regular return procedures.
Return and re-immigration from Kosovo
during the period 1 July 1999 – 7 August 2000
As of the middle of August,
approximately 4,800 Kosovo refugees with collective protection in
Norway have returned to their country of origin with return
support.
Of these more than 1,722 have been
registered as re-immigrants into Norway. This is possible while
they continue to have a valid permit, i.e. by the end of July for
the majority. One hundred and nineteen of these have returned to
Kosovo for the second time. By the middle of August there are thus
still approximately 4,800 Kosovo refugees who have or have had
collective protection in Norway. Around 2,000 of the evacuated
persons had been registered as asylum seekers by the end of July.
An additional 500 out of the approximately 1,900 others who
received collective protection last year have requested that their
asylum application be re-examined.
Norway’s resettlement quota for year
2000
The Norwegian Parliament has set this year’s quota to 1500
places. Year 2000 is the last of the three-year flexible quota
period, and places not used in 1998 and 1999 will be carried over
to 2000. However, as this year is the last of the three-year
period, places not used this year will be withdrawn.
Based on UNHCRs proposal and the
assessment of the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration, the
Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development has allocated
the resettlement quota for year 2000 as follows:
- 400 Iranians (primarily from Turkey)
- 250 Afghans (primarily from Iran)
- 50 Iraqis (primarily from Turkey)
- 300 Africans (primarily from Kenya)
- 50 persons from East-Asia
- 200 persons from the former Yugoslavia (in particular Serbs
from Croatia)
- 50 open places (all nationalities)
- 80 places for emergency cases
- 20 places for "Twenty-Or-More"
- 50 unallocated places (convertible for alternative resettlement
activities)
- 50 places for "high profile" persons (politicians, human rights
activists, academia).
The latter category, the "high
profile" persons, is reserved for referrals from others than UNHCR.
The category is primarily intended for persons coming directly from
their country of origin.
When selecting cases for
resettlement in Norway, particular attention is paid to the
potential for integration in Norway. Such cases are of special
importance when selecting larger groups of refugees. A few refugees
with potential for integration may serve as an integration helper
and assist in creating a link between the group of refugees and the
Norwegian society.
Measures combating racism and
discrimination
A new status report indicates that virtually all the
measures in the action plan have been initiated.
Thirty-two measures are included in
Handlingsplan mot rasisme og diskriminering, 1998-2001
(the Government Action Plan to Combat Racism and Discrimination
1998-2001).
The plan is one of the
Govern-ment’s central instruments in its effort to prevent and
combat racism and discrimination, and also appears to have been an
effective tool.
A number of Ministries and other
public agencies are responsible for implementing and following up
the measures under the plan. The status report is based upon
reports from these agencies.
The measures under the plan focus
on legal assistance and monitoring the police and the courts, the
labour market, the housing market, schools, key sectors and local
communities.
According to the status report,
some of the measures differ some-what from what is described in the
plan; nevertheless, they are in compliance with the plan’s
intentions. Moreover, some measures have only been partially
implemented.
The report shows how far the work
has progressed. It does not assess goal attainment or impact, as
the plan is still in effect and will continue until the end of
2001.
Immigrants in the public sector
One of the 32 measures is the
Government Action Plan for the Recruitment of Persons with
Immigrant Backgrounds to the State Sector 1998-2001.
This plan aims to stimulate greater
recruitment of persons with immigrant backgrounds to the state
sector so that those best qualified are employed and the state can
provide the best possible service. Through active recruitment of
persons with immigrant backgrounds the state sector may eventually
reflect the general composition of the population.
Centre against ethnic discrimination
The Centre against ethnic
discrimination was established in September 1998 for a four-year
trial period to serve as a legal assistance office that will also
help to document the type and scope of discrimination in Norway.
The centre’s two reports:
Moving Toward Better Protection, on the type and scope of
discrimination, and
NORGE - en rettsstat for alle? (NORWAY – a state with
justice for all?), on the attitudes to minorities in the Norwegian
legal system, have been posted on the centre’s web site:
www.smed.no
The action plan and the status
report can be obtained from the Ministry of Local Government and
Regional Development. The action plan has also been posted at
www.dep.no/odin/norsk/publ
The Ministry of Defence has drawn
up an action plan to boost the recruitment of persons with
immigrant backgrounds to the Norwegian Armed Forces. Photo: FRM,
Torggeir Haugaard | 
|
Act against ethnic discrimination
A legal committee will be assessing
how to improve legal protection against ethnic discrimination, and
will propose a bill against ethnic discrimination.
Currently there are some isolated
provisions prohibiting ethnic discrimination. These provisions are
rarely tested in the courts. Groups that should be protected feel
that they have poor protection against discrimination. The
Government therefore wishes to assess how to improve legal
protection.
On 3 March 2000 the King in Council
appointed a committee that will propose a bill against ethnic
discrimination. The Committee will outline various alternatives for
sanctions/use of the act and will assess how to ensure that the
provisions are applied effectively. The Committee will also propose
how the UN Convention against Racial Discrimination may be
incorporated in Norwegian legislation through a new special act
against ethnic discrimination, and assess obligations pursuant to
other relevant conventions relating to human rights. The Committee
shall also study legislation in other countries. One year has been
set aside for this work.
World Conference against Racism
The UN will arrange a world
conference against racism in the autumn of 2001
(www.unhcr.ch/html/racism/racism/htm). In preparing for the world
conference, the Council of Europe will hold the European Conference
against Racism on 11-13 October 2000 in Strasbourg.
Prior to the conference the Forum
for Non-Governmental Organisations will be held on 10-11 October
2000. In Norway a number of NGOs have convened a national working
group that will supply ideas for the preparations for both the
European conference and the World conference. The group is
coordinated by the Anti-Racism Centre, and receives financial
support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Settling unaccompanied minor asylum
seekers
Never before have the municipal authorities settled so many
unaccompanied minor asylum seekers as in 1999 when 302 single
minors were settled in municipalities. In spite of this there
continues to be a shortage of settlement places for this
group.
This increase is due to the fact
that the number of unaccompanied minors who have applied for asylum
in Norway has more than doubled in the last few years.
In comparison, 215 unaccom-panied
minors were settled in 1998 and 133 unaccompanied minors in 1997.
In 1999 a total of 575 unaccom-panied minors arrived in Norway. A
growing number of these have to stay in reception centres longer
than is desirable, particularly those without relatives or other
connections to the country. The average waiting time after a
residence permit has been granted was more than five months in
1999.
The media have lately focused on
so-called "anchor children". These are children who are sent to
Norway by their parents in the hope that the rest of the family
will be granted family reunification with them. How-ever,
statistics prove that only a very few are granted family
reunification. In 1997, 219 unaccompanied minors arrived in Norway.
Of these, 11 unaccompanied minors have been granted family
reunification with 27 family members. Even though the 1998 and 1999
figures have not been finalised, they also indicate that the rate
of family reunification is low.
The Norwegian Directorate of
Immigration gives priority to settling unaccompanied minors, but
has not succeeded in procuring an adequate number of settlement
places for 2000. Proper settlement of unaccompanied minors in
municipalities requires individually adapted measures such as the
recruitment of care persons, establishing communal housing/foster
homes and so on. This may take a long time, and some municipal
authorities are uncertain as to what housing solutions should be
chosen. Several municipalities also feel that state subsidies for
settling unaccompanied minors are inadequate.
Measures to facilitate speedy and good
settlement
In recent years a number of
measures have been initiated by the state to solve the problems of
settling unaccompanied minors. Subsidies for settling unaccompanied
minors have increased and a number of development projects have
been implemented. Six municipalities are participating in a project
to develop good models for municipal work with unaccompanied
minors, while the College of Telemark is carrying out a project to
obtain an overview of what has happened to persons who arrived as
single minors in Norway ten years ago.
Manual
The Ministry of Children and Family
Affairs will soon issue a manual on municipal assistance for
unaccompa-nied minor refugees.
The intention of this manual is to
improve local expertise in the activities aimed at unaccompanied
minors and to strengthen cooperation between the central and local
autho-rities. The manual shall also serve as a guidebook for the
assistance given to unaccompanied minors.
Women in focus
The two main aims of the
Handlingsplan mot tvangsgifte (Action Plan against Forced
Marriages) 1998-2001 are to prevent young people from being forced
into marriage and provide better assistance and support to young
persons who are under the threat of being or have been forced into
marriage.
The majority of migrants in the
world are women, and their situation is receiving more and more
attention, particularly the abuse some women are subjected to.
Forced marriage has received special attention in this context, and
a new action plan has proposed a number of measures to addres this
issue: information and dialogue, assistance and crisis measures,
education, training and skills, assistance from the foreign
service, legislative changes, research and documentation. | 
Photo: Knudsen fotosenter
|
Mediation and dispute resolution
The Government has allocated funds
to projects managed by organisations that have extensive experience
from assisting young persons who are threatened with or subjected
to forced marriage. Priority is given to measures and projects that
emphasise mediation and dispute resolution between parents and
young people.
International cooperation
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
will continue to develop contacts with the authorities in relevant
countries aiming for speedy and efficient handling of specific
cases. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will support the
establishment of a contact and information centre in Pakistan for
women with links to Norway.
Training
The soon to be published guidebook
Veiledning i arbeid med likestilling (Guide to Equal
Opportunities Work) will include the topic of forced marriage. This
guidebook will be used in primary school, lower secondary school,
upper secondary school and adult education, and will be accompanied
by training programmes for teachers.
The Ministry of Children and Family
Affairs is developing the continuing education programme
Barnevern og etnisitet (Child Welfare and Ethnicity) to
incorporate the topic of forced marriage into this course. The
Ministry has also initiated a survey of existing skills at Family
Welfare Offices, and will assess the need for measures when this
work has been concluded.
Mental health
The topic of forced marriage will
also be included in
Opptrappingsplan for psykisk helse 1999-2006 (Escalation
Plan for Mental Health 1999-2006) which will improve the expertise
of public health clinics and the school health services in this
area.
The action plan can be found at
www.dep.no/odin/norsk/publ.
Immigrants who have been forced into
marriage allowed to stay in Norway
The spouse of a person who is settled in Norway may be
granted a family reunification permit and thus a residence
permit.
If she leaves her spouse before
three years have passed, she could, according to current
regulations, lose her residence permit. In such cases, women who
have been forced into marriage are in a difficult situation. If
they break out of the marriage they will be sent back to the
community they came from – to condemnation and/or those who forced
them into the marriage. Therefore, even though they have been
forced into it, many choose to remain in the marriage.
Dating from 1 July, the
Immigra-tion Regulations have been amended so that these women have
better options. They are now allowed to stay in Norway even if they
leave their spouse. The condition is that they must institute
proceedings to have the marriage annulled. If a Norwegian court
annuls the marriage, they will be allowed to stay in Norway.
Collective housing
Sheltered collective housing will
be established for women with immigrant backgrounds who encounter
problems in connection with forced marriage. The project is under
the auspices of Oslo
krisesenter (Shelter), but has its own premises.
Contact telephone for forced
marriage
Young people from anywhere in the
country who are threatened with or victims of forced marriage now
have a telephone number to call for advice. The service is operated
by
Oslo Røde Kors Internasjonale Senter (ORKIS) (Oslo Red
Cross International Centre). The telephone line is open between 11
AM and 8 PM on weekdays. The toll-free number is: 815 55 201.
More knowledge about immigrants
Statistics Norway (SSB) and the Ministry of Local
Government and Regional Development are collaborating on the
regular publication of statistics on the immigrant
population.
The study
Levekår blant innvandrere 1996 (Living conditions among
immigrants 1996) documents the living conditions among eight
non-western immigrant groups (sample 48,000 persons between 16 and
70 years of age).
The publication
Innvandrere i Norge. Hvem er de, hva gjør de og hvordan lever
de? (Immigrants in Norway. Who are they, what do they do, and
how do they live?) SSB, Statistical analyses no. 20 – 1997,
provided for the first time a total overview of immigration and
immigrants through public statistics.
Innvandring og innvandrere 2000 (Immigration and
immigrants 2000) is presented in Statistical analyses no. 33. This
publication compiles various statistics on immigrants in Norway,
focusing on time series that illuminate the development in various
living condition areas.
Barn og unge med innvandrerbakgrunn (Children and young
persons with immigrant backgrounds)
Aktuell statistikk, March 2000, presents available
statistics on demographics, education, crime and child welfare.
Young immigrants in the city
Disputes between young persons and their parents in
immigrant families may be called culture conflicts, but largely
they are also generation conflicts.
This was one of the topics at a
conference arranged by the Norwegian Research Council in March this
year. Issues examined included aspects of work and education,
gender, the urban environment, culture, identity, religion, gangs,
marginalisation and how it feels to be the object of research.
The conference was targeted for
researchers of young people and immigration, local and central
users of research, workers in the youth field, organisations for
young people and immigrants and other interested parties.
It was concluded that:
- There is little difference in most respects between the
majority of young persons with immigrant backgrounds and other
young persons.
- A growing number of minority youths distinguish themselves in
sports, art, politics and education.
- Young persons irrespective of their background are working
together to develop new and different life styles. Young people are
also adapting, for example young persons with majority backgrounds
in some environments adopt the language, music, food customs etc.
of minority groups.
His Royal Majesty Crown Prince
Håkon attended the conference on young immigrants in the city. Photo: Scanpix a/s | 
|
Metropolis conference on immigration
and cities
The 5th International Metropolis conference will be
arranged 13-17 November 2000 in Vancouver, Canada. Norway will host
the 7th Metropolis conference in Oslo in 2002.
Metropolis is an international
forum for research and policy development on inter-national
migration and cities.
Metropolis activities in Norway are
defined in accordance with the original Metropolis idea - to bring
researchers and policy makers/practitioners together around the
topic on migration, diversity and changing cities
(www.international. metropolis.net). New research on these topics
is under way under the Programme for International Migration and
Ethnic Relations (IMER) administered by the Research Council of
Norway: (www.svf.uib.no/sefos/IMER/nfr/)
A national network for the exchange
of knowledge and experience has been established on the initiative
of the Department of Indigenous, Minority and Immigrant Affairs in
the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development
(www.krd.dep.no). The programme, invitation for workshops and the
first invitation for the 7th International Metropolis conference in
Oslo in 2002 will be presented during next year.
Labour immigration
Towards the end of the 1990s labour immigration increased
substantially in step with the growing demand for labour on the
domestic front.
The general rule is that all
permits must be applied for and granted before the foreign national
enters the country. When a permit is to be granted for the first
time, foreign relations interests, and national-security and
immigration-policy interests must not indicate that a work permit
should not be granted. A stipulation for being entitled to a permit
is that housing and financial subsistence must be ensured.
Three types of work permit may be
granted:
- A permit that can constitute the basis for a settlement permit
after three years of residence and an application for settlement.
Typical cases include specialists that the Norwegian labour market
lacks.
- A permit that can be renewed but which does not constitute the
basis for a settlement permit. Typical cases include au pairs or
missionaries.
- A permit that cannot be renewed and which is granted for three
months or a year, for example to workers for typical seasonal
industries.
It has become easier for specialists and seasonal
workers to be granted work permits in Norway
Specialists
Up until 1 May 2000 the "specialist
provision" laid down special conditions which conferred general
entitlement to take work in Norway to foreign nationals who had
vocational training on a high level or who had special
qualifications.
This provision was then changed to
apply to foreign nationals with vocational training, but not "on a
high level".
The reason why vocational training
was found to be sufficient is the fact that the labour market in
Norway is too restrictive in some areas. The condition under both
the former phrasing and the amendment is that it is not possible
for the position to be filled by domestic labour or labour from the
EEA area.
The intention of the amendment is
to make it easier to cover the need for skilled labour in those
areas where this has proved difficult even when advertising for
labour in the Nordic countries and other EEA countries, for example
in the healthcare sector and the IT industry. However, vocational
training on a higher level can still be required "if special
considerations so dictate".
Permits granted pursuant to the
specialist provision, also those granted after the amendments, will
constitute the grounds for family reunification and permanent
residence.
Foreign specialists educated in
Norway
On 1 January 2000 the so-called
"quarantine" provision was liberalised. After completing their
education, self-financed foreign-national students may be granted
work permits if they satisfy the conditions for work permits as
specialists pursuant to the Immigrant Regulations. They must at any
rate return to their country of origin after their studies if they
do not receive an offer of employment that satisfies these
conditions.
For students who have received
Norwegian student loans based on foreign-aid considerations, this
"quarantine" provision still applies before they may be granted a
work permit.
Seasonal workers
Previously, seasonal work permits
could be granted for the period 15 May to 31 October. As of 1 April
2000, this time restriction has been dropped. The need for foreign
seasonal labour for crop harvesting can now be covered for a
slightly longer period of time, and it is, moreover, possible to
have foreign labour for other seasonal work than during the summer
months, for example for the tourist industry or seasonal fishing,
even in the winter months.
An applicant may still only be
granted a permit for up to three months (extendable up to four
months in extraordinary cases). Nine months must pass before the
person in question may be granted a new permit as a seasonal
worker.
Administration of immigration to be
united under one Ministry
The Minister of Local Government and Regional Development
has assumed responsibility for parts of the policy on asylum and
immigration. From 1 January 2001 the responsibility for immigration
issues will be moved from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry
of Local Government and Regional Development.
At the same time an independent
appeals board will be established to handle all appeals of
immigration cases.
Currently the Ministry of Justice
is in charge of all administrative processing of cases pursuant to
the Immigration Act. The Ministry is responsible for developing
regula-tions in this area, and currently the Ministry of Justice
also processes appeals of decisions made pursuant to this
legislation.
The immigration board
One of the reasons behind
establishing the immigration board is the aim to provide asylum
seekers with better legal protection than they have had.
An independent board with similar
powers as a court of law has been deemed to be the most appropriate
body for ensuring legal rights in individual cases, including the
consideration of equal treatment.
With the establishment of the
immigration board a major part of the Ministry of Justice’s
responsibilities will have been placed elsewhere, thus making it
natural to coordinate the remaining tasks with the rest of the
immigration administration.
The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development
(KRD)
The Ministry of Local Government
and Regional Development (KRD) is currently responsible for the
quota for resettlement refugees, reception and settlement of
refu-gees and return.
KRD coordinates and develops
measures to combat racism and discrimination and has been given the
responsibility of working for cultural diversity, and establishing
dialogue and interaction, for example by administe-ring support for
immigrant organisations and other NGO assistance.
Furthermore, the Ministry is
responsible for overseeing the implementation of a coordinated
policy on refugee issues, immigration and integration, where
various measures and support schemes are considered as a whole.
Regulation and integration
Even though regulatory and
integration considerations may not always be in agreement, they are
closely related, and it may be advantageous to consider them as a
whole at the earliest possible stage. This restructuring means
there will be fewer actors in the immigration field, which should
lead to more comprehensive policy and improve political and
administrative control of this field.
The UDI has updated its web site
The Directorate of Immigration
(UDI) has now redesigned its web site.
The UDI web site offers news and
background information on much of what is happening within the
field of immigration, refugee and integration policy. Features
include statistics, legislation and provisions, publications and
relevant background articles. The web site will be updated on a
regular basis.
You will find the UDI’s web site at
:
www.udi.no
The fortnightly newsletter on
Norwegian refugee and immigration policy is issued jointly by the
Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Ministry of
Justice and the Directorate of Immigration. An English edition is
published every half year.
Editor-in-chief: Thor Arne Aass,
Editor: Biljana Lauvstad, Tel.: +47 22 24 71 69 Fax: +47 22 24 95
48, E-mail: 
Suscribing to the Newsletter is
free.
http://www.odin.dep.no/krd/norsk/publ/periodika/nb/
Address: Ministry of Local
Government and Regional Development,
PO Box 8112 Dep, 0032 Oslo, Norway
