(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
[asylum] – Erna Solberg and Bjarne Håkon Hanssen have been at the forefront of a dirty campaign, says Ola Melbye Pettersen.
The deputy leader of SOS Racism is not gracious in his judgment in connection with the investigation by the Directorate of Immigration (UDI). The Graver Committee's report was submitted on Monday, May 22, and immediately led to Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen resigning as UDI director.
- Solberg and Hanssen have appeared on debate programs on television and talked about how shocked they are about the scandal in the UDI, and they have threatened Nordby with legal prosecution. The "scandal" that VG revealed in March is not a scandal at all, says Melbye Pettersen.
He refers to Section 8 of the Immigration Act, which states that it must be considered whether there are strong human considerations when processing asylum applications.
- For a group that has lived in Norway for six years, and could not be sent back to Iraq due to the war, there were clear human considerations that spoke in favor of residence. In this case, the UDI did its job and granted residence to 182 Kurdish asylum seekers, he says.
These are the losers in the UDI case, says the deputy leader of SOS Racism.
- Once again, the 182 Kurds from northern Iraq are thrown into the insecurity they have lived under for six years, says Melbye Pettersen.
The deputy leader of SOS Racism is most disappointed with Labor and Inclusion Minister Bjarne Håkon Hanssen.
- By insisting on supporting the criticism from Solberg, he and the government have backed the policy that SOS Racism and other refugee organizations have spent four years fighting against, says Melbye Pettersen
Did not know he was on the list
[stay] Two weeks ago, taxi driver Ismet Abdul-Rahman Mustafa learned that he was on the list of the 182 Kurds for whom the Immigration Directorate has granted amnesty. Now he feels uncertainty about his future.- I feel helpless. The day I found out I was on the list, I just drove home. I could not work.
Isa Muhammed Abdullah is another of the pilots on UDI's list, he fled to Norway in 1998. UDI's "scandal" was that they took "human considerations" when they granted him a residence permit in December last year.
- In November 2003, I fell from a scaffolding while working. I broke both my arms and my back, and was injured at work, says Abdullah, and shows documentation.
Now he is afraid that the UDI riot will cause politicians to revoke the residence permit.
- I still have great pain in my arms. I have been refused support for rehabilitation. After several years without a job, I have accumulated large debts. The residence permit finally gave me hope, says Abdullah.
Be informed
[unlawful] The Graver Committee's investigation report gives former UDI director Trygve Nordby the responsibility for having drawn up a practice on the edge of the law without informing the Ministry.The report states that Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen was informed of the illegal practice of the UDI when she was the assistant director.
The starting point for the case was that Nordby decided on October 25 last year that 182 Northern Iraqi Kurds with temporary residence without the right to family reunification (Muf status) could be granted permanent residence in Norway.
Read the whole story about the Kurdish refugees in issue 21 of Ny Tid, which will be published on 2 June.
