– Should be grateful, not complain – Dagsavisen
Parliamentary representative Grete Wold (SV) responds after she read Dagsavisen Fremtidens article that more human rights activists are leaving Norway, because they believe Norway makes it practically impossible for them to continue their activism.
– These activists have an international perspective and a background that we need in our country, she says.
Last year, Norway evacuated 111 activists and human rights defenders from Afghanistan. Several of these were internationally recognized for their work on human rights. Nevertheless, they settled far from the Norwegian environments they need to work with. Because it was urgent to settle the refugees, IMDi did not take into account the relationships, occupation or facilitation needs of the refugees.
At the age of 29, Farzana Elham Kochai was the youngest member of the Afghan National Assembly. When she was evacuated to Norway, she ended up in Vestnes in Møre og Romsdal. A small municipality with around 6,000 inhabitants.
If she wanted to attend an international conference, as she missed part of the introductory program, she would receive a benefit cut. If she wants to move to another place in Norway, she will lose the statutory right to the introductory program.
Kochai believes that Norway does not pay enough attention to the competence of the newly arrived refugees. Instead of being allowed to continue their important work, they must undergo a standardized introductory program.
– All those who recently came from Afghanistan were working engines in the country, some are politicians, lawyers and other activists. These women can communicate perfectly in English, and can do something other than learn Norwegian. It becomes absurd and difficult when you send a person with 15 years of top management experience to a shop, café or a farm to get a practice certificate.
Several of the activists choose to move to Canada. There they believe that it will be easier to communicate in English, at the same time they can settle wherever they want in the country. It does not take long before they get a passport either.
– Make a mistake
Storting representative Grete Wold thinks it is a pity that Norway is now missing out on this competence.
– Norway is making a mistake. This only shows how rigid and poorly adapted our individual system is, she says and goes on to say that several have reacted and that she has received information from organizations and key politicians in Oslo who will be able to benefit from their unique expertise.
SV now wants the government to establish a special scheme for refugees who are politically engaged and want to continue their work from Norway. Where the individual who has been granted legal residence can obtain residence himself, without the right to the introductory program lapse. It is assumed that the money follows each individual, so that the municipality in which the individual chooses to settle, receives introductory support at regular rates.
She demands that these activists be given a kind of “free city scheme”, which is a measure for writers who have become refugees as a result of what they write. The aim of the scheme is that the author gets a sense of security that means that the literary activity continues and is further developed.
– We must see resources in the people, and not look at them as an expense item, says Wold and adds that they are now working to see how they can help to put in place a separate scheme.
[ Stadig flere flyktninger vender tilbake til Ukraina ]
Want increased use of self-settlement
There is already something called agreed self-settlement. This scheme means that refugees who have not been allocated a settlement municipality can find housing themselves by entering into a dialogue with the municipality to get the lease approved, but it is up to the individual municipality about the good scheme.
This is a scheme that can be used by anyone who is either in the reception system or who is a private resident. The municipalities that have such schemes have usually decided how many refugees in total will be settled during the year. Therefore, the municipality may no longer have vacancies for refugees who find housing on their own. At the same time, not all municipalities allow agreed self-settlement.
– For people who live in a municipality as resettlement refugees, this will not be relevant, as they get a municipality and a home before they arrive in the country, says director of IMDi, Libe Rieber-Mohn.
As the activists found themselves in an emergency situation, they have also missed this opportunity.
SV also wants this practice to be increased. Wold adds that she does not want refugees to settle only in a certain area, to avoid ghettos, but still believes that more people should be given the opportunity to decide where they should live in the country, if they have special reasons for doing so.
– We want a report to look at more individual assessment so that participation increases. She also believes that more people will use the opportunity to move, if they can keep benefits, she says.
– How to avoid ghettos at the same time as the scheme of self-settlement is increased?
– We do not have a concrete plan now, but we want to see how to get settlement in all parts of the country, at the same time as refugees need special considerations, she says.
When Ukrainians came to Norway, the party wanted to test increased use of agreed self-settlement to study this scheme and proposed it. for the rest of the Stortingbut the proposal did not go through.
– Several Ukrainians who came to Norway already had families living scattered around the country. A lot had stopped and it took a long time before the refugees were assigned a municipality, she says.
[ – Ikke Norge verdig at mennesker som har flyktet fra krig tvinges til matkøer ]
Difference in Ukrainian refugees
This proposal was also Frp positive to, and thought we needed a more unbureaucratic system. But now the FRP says that they are only positive about self-settlement of refugees when it comes to Ukrainian refugees.
– Ukrainian refugees are in a different situation than refugees we usually receive. Ukrainian refugees come from the same cultural circle as us and will more quickly become part of society. We already see that many Ukrainians are self-sufficient and if Ukrainian refugees themselves manage to obtain housing, they are free to settle wherever they want in Norway, says Erlend Wiborg, FRP’s immigration and integration policy spokesman.
When it comes to general self-settlement, the FRP believes that the problem is that there can be an accumulation of minorities, which in turn creates a number of social problems, according to Wiborg.
– Integration suffers when non-Norwegians become dominant in certain areas. Therefore, settlement bans should be introduced automatically in all cities and municipalities where immigrants make up more than 15 percent of the population, he says.
If one is to be able to settle freely in a self-chosen municipality, he believes that a minimum condition must be that the person in question is self-sufficient.
– It is provocative that some immigrants complain that it is not good enough to live in Alta, Mo i Rana and other places in Norway. Because if you are on the run from war and persecution and get protection, housing, money to support yourself in safe Norway, you should be grateful for it, not complain that you live in another municipality than they would like, he says.
[ Slik går bosettingen av ukrainske flyktninger ]
Should not settle in areas with challenges
The Conservative Party’s immigration policy spokesperson, Mari Holm Lønseth, agrees with SV that the human rights defenders from Afghanistan must be allowed to continue their important work, regardless of which municipality they live in.
Therefore, she is pleased that the Minister of Labor and Social Inclusion tells Dagsavisen Fremtiden that they are looking at the possibility of adjusting regulations for such work can be part of the introductory program, so that refugees who want to pursue peace work do not get their benefits cut.
She goes on to say that it was the Conservatives who ensured stricter criteria for municipalities that are to settle refugees. Among other things, priority is given to municipalities that have good integration results, and refugees should not be settled in areas with major living conditions challenges.
– Agreed self-settlement is good to ensure that refugees who have been connected to a place or have a special desire for a municipality of residence get it. However, complete release of settlement could lead to us losing control, she says.
[ Flyktningbosetting: Vil vurdere permanente endringer ]
Keep yourself updated. Get a daily newsletter from Dagsavisen