Paperless. Everyone is complaining to Barack Obama for the time being. But here's a challenge for Norwegian politicians: Become as tough as Obama. Stand up and say that at least 10.000 paperless in Norway should be allowed to stay!
(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
Guanatanmo Bay is not yet closed, almost six years after the newly elected president of the United States signed it. And in the Middle East there is war, while Russia's Putin has become the most powerful man in the world – at the same time as he watches for US Alarms no. Admittedly, the US economy has improved and unemployment is far lower than when Obama took over from Bush Jr., but Republicans have no words for how bad it is with the Democrats' president. So also in several Norwegian newspapers of the time – Obama apparently disappoints, as if it is his fault.
But 20. In November, he did what no one else has dared to do in the last couple of decades, either in Europe or the United States: He stood up on direct television and argued that as many as 5 millions of so-called paperless should be secured against deportation. And his comprehensive plan ensures that nearly half of the unregistered are given a chance to stay, and Obama will take the fight against Congress – even if Republicans and Americans actually agree that something should be done. It's more Obama's method that has been criticized.
In Norway, there are an estimated 20.000 paperless and "illegal Norwegian". But which political party has the program party to do something for half of them, ie 10.000? During a speech in Chicago on November 25, he justified the reform with the country's history. The United States is a nation of immigrants. And in every new wave of immigrants, there have been some who have raised their voices and stopped. "Although the only people who have had the right to say so are the American peoples," Obama said. When will Erna Solberg say the same? So, "The only people who have the right to say stop are the Sami!"
For it is immigration that has been America's success and strength. Whether it is Irish, Italians, Norwegians, Cubans or Chinese. In the 1800th century and the beginning of the 1900th century it was the most northern European immigrant, until 1965 there were most Eastern and southern Europeans, after 1965 the majority came from Asia and Latin America. But throughout history, people from all over have come to the United States.
When Obama presented the reform proposal, which is very reminiscent of an amnesty, he said: "For more than 200 years, welcoming immigration from around the world has given us a tremendous advantage over other countries. It has kept us youthful, dynamic and created entrepreneurs. It has created a people with unlimited opportunities. ”
Therefore, Obama asked that the country's undocumented to become legal American citizens, without the police coming at night to throw them out with the law in hand. He turned it around and said that the undocumented should get papers: "You can come out of the darkness, and get on the right side of the law."
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. Or that Obama had dared to come up with this reform earlier in his presidency, not towards the end of his term as president. And the fact that border controls against Mexico are also being tightened, with their unfortunate consequences, is also a good reason not to praise Obama for the reform proposal.
But Norway also has undocumented migrants. However, these are very uncertain figures. Statistics Norway's latest figure was 18.196 "irregular immigrants". But as a campaign page «papirløse.no – No people are illegal »writes, the figures are so uncertain that the correct number can« vary from about 10.500 to almost 32.000 ».
In any case, there is an excessive number of people who are forced to live in hiding in Norway. Many of these come from countries such as Iran, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Somalia, DR Congo and Chechnya. But it is also paperless from completely different countries. As in the USA: Obama pointed out that it is not only Latin Americans, but also Poles – and a number of Norwegians with expired Green Cards – who will benefit from Obama's plans.
Where are the Norwegian politicians who want to do as Obama? It has been over four years since a number of organizations – everything from the Church's City Mission, the Women's Front, the Helsinki Committee, Norwegian People's Aid and Blitz – launched the paperless campaign. At the time, they pointed out that while most European countries had implemented various amnesty schemes for undocumented immigrants – something that also both Ronald Reagan and Bush sr. did – Norway stood out "by having one of the strictest approaches to the undocumented".
"There is room for humanity here in the tension between the strict Norwegian approach and the more humanitarian solutions that have been chosen in many other countries," the campaign states.
But still this room for humanity has not been found by Norwegian politicians. There is little chance that in the next four years, with Frp in the Ministry of Justice, we will see that the humanity space is discovered. It is more likely that the police with the law in hand knock on the doors of the undocumented at night, as the main case in Ny Tid showed last week, than that the undocumented themselves can step out of the darkness with the same law in hand. It is a terrible strain to live in hiding in a country where everyday indifference to these fates is dominant.
Aftenposten went out on November 22 and supported Obama's new immigration reform: "We believe that there are strong reasons, both humanitarian and other, to end the years-long shadowy existence in which millions of undocumented immigrants have lived," writes the conservative Oslo newspaper . But the 20.000 undocumented migrants in Norway are not mentioned in the editorial. Then we have learned little.
Obama has, despite a historically weak political room for maneuver, reminded us of the possibilities of politics. Politicians with a humanitarian heart for the undocumented, came out of the darkness of the Storting! Solidarity politicians from all over the country, unite!
Leader in Ny Tid 28 November 2014
