(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
[26. May 2006] The Catholic Tamil we meet in this week's Ny Tid does not have the right to stay in Norway. "Edward" has a job and pays taxes. The daughter, who was born in the country, goes to kindergarten. But "Edward" lives on borrowed time. One day, his now unknown identity becomes known. The small family is prepared for the fact that it will mean that they will have to leave their new homeland.
This week, Mullah Krekar's mother-in-law and 181 other Kurds with legal residence in Norway have become a national scandal. The stay was granted when the then UDI director Trygve Nordby decided that strong human considerations should weigh heavily in cases of doubt. The result was a practice where the UDI broke the law. According to the investigation report, this was done deliberately and without informing the Ministry. Nordby has got a scratch in the paint, UDI has lost confidence. The new director Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen has resigned, and Frp has notified the police directorate. Immigration opponents have gained water at the mill, engine speed and full speed ahead.
It is important to have a predictable and transparent system for how we treat those who want to settle here. There is little doubt that Nordby's way of dealing with this issue has been anything but neat. However, we are unable to stir up the fact that these people have been allowed to stay in Norway. The UDI is not at all known to be released with the residence permits. In a country that actually needs extra manpower, most applicants are sent new hands right back to where they came from. Those who get stuck in secret are tracked down and thrown out of both jobs and land. Norwegian politicians have no intention of changing the practice. When they talk about illegal immigrants, you hear
George W. Bush looks far more sympathetic than SV's Heikki Holmås and Frps Per-Willy Amundsen together. Other countries' practice of amnesty for illegal immigrants should be a columbi egg, and not the scare picture Holmås and Amundsen draw.
We have had immigration stops since 1974. That is long enough. Norway needs more people, more hands and more colors. Let "Edward" and Krekar's mother-in-law stay.
