PST assessment harms academia

When Iranian Hamideh Kaffash was offered a PhD position at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in 2013, she packed her cases and moved to Norway to take a doctorate in the field of metallurgy. However, the pleasure was to be short-lived. Eight months after arriving in the country, she – as one of several students from Iran – was told that they were not granted a temporary residence permit to work as a fellow at NTNU. The reason was that the Police Security Service (PST) is afraid that they could carry out technology espionage for Iran.
Together with fellow student Shahin Akbarnejad from Iran, she appealed the decision to the Oslo District Court in June, but was not upheld in court. Pending a new trial in the Court of Appeal, Kaffash is now back in Iran. She is surprised by the outcome of the case in Oslo District Court. "I see this decision as both strange and contradictory," she told Ny Tid. "I was discriminated against and discriminated against on the basis of my nationality. PST did this under the heading 'national security', and linked my project on CO2 reduction to the atomic bomb. The whole of NTNU has expressed that this is foolish, but the Oslo District Court agreed with PST, "she says, and emphasizes that she has not resigned despite the district court's decision. "I will continue to fight for justice in this matter, whatever it takes. I will get PST to apologize for stigmatizing an entire group of students on the basis of nationality, "says Kaffash.

Loss. After returning to Iran, Kaffash embarked on a doctorate in materials science. Next to that, she works part-time at a company that produces cars. She is still very disappointed and angry about what she thinks is a mistake made by the Norwegian authorities. “I was accused of being a threat to national security in Norway, and suspected of being able to conduct illegal knowledge transfer to Iran. I can't imagine being blamed for anything worse, ”says Kaffash. For her, the exclusion also had consequences both for the curricula and for the economy: “It is terrible to be discriminated against because you were born in a certain place, something you cannot do. When I accepted the offer in Norway, I also offered myself a number of other opportunities. I was offered a three-year contract in 2013, and thus invested in Norway. Then I was forced to leave the country after eight months at NTNU. I lost a lot of money on this, but the feeling of this gross discrimination was far worse than the financial losses, ”says Kaffash.

Devastating. A number of Iranians have been denied residence in Norway on the basis of the Immigration Regulations section 6-35, first paragraph, which came into force on 1 January last year. It deals, among other things, with the ban on the transfer of sensitive technology to Iran. According to the student newspaper Universitetsavisa, 54 people were denied temporary residence permits in Norway last year as a result. 15 of them are from Iran.
The new regulations also mean that NTNU now seems to have to prioritize students from Iran because the financial uncertainty associated with offering them study space is too great. Several of the students who have been rejected in Norway today must have obtained positions at universities in other countries, including Sweden and the United States. Kaffash believes Norway's practice can be directly devastating to the academic environment in the country: "The universities in Norway no longer dare to provide study space to international students who need a visa to Norway, which in turn causes the educational institutions to base their choice of students on things academic merits, ”she points out. "It is not good for the academic environment to be influenced by politics and be pressured by security forces, neither in Norway nor elsewhere. Academics cannot work effectively if they are constantly subjected to unnecessary supervision from 'big brother', ”says Kaffash. She wants to appeal directly to PST:
"Discriminating against Iranian students based on their nationality is perhaps the biggest mistake the PST has made. I don't know who came up with the idea 'let's expel some of the Iranians, it can't do anything', but it was a gross mistake, and I think you guys will see that in the time to come, ”says Kaffash.

"I will apologize to the PST for stigmatizing a whole group of students on the basis of nationality."

Can be changed. Around 70 Iranian students have been denied a residence permit in Norway since 2013 on the recommendation of PST. Several have been expelled, and NTNU has lost eleven of its Iranian students. The practice is part of the sanctions against Iran, adopted by the UN Security Council. This involves, among other things, so-called illegal knowledge transfer, which PST fears that the Iranian students will be able to conduct. The judgment in the Oslo District Court in June referred to the negotiations between the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Iran. The court's assessment should be based on the actual situation when the students were rejected. If sanctions against Iran are removed, the basis is no longer the same, and students can reapply according to the rules as they are at the time the application is submitted.
The students' lawyer Brynjulf ​​Risnes tells Ny Tid that he expects a different result when the case comes up in the Court of Appeal. "It is no secret that the sanctions against Iran have had little or no effect on the country's nuclear program, so in any case I hope that the sanctions against the country will be lifted," Risnes said. "In any case, we believe the result of this case is wrong – the interpretation the Norwegian court bases on this ruling is so broad that no Iranian in practice should have been allowed to study in Norway. I doubt that the case will have the same outcome in the Court of Appeal, "he says, and points out that the trial itself can also lead to academic projects having to be shelved:" For these students, the time the trial takes is just as important as the outcome of the verdict. because these are time-limiting projects. Therefore, we try to design the process in a way that also takes this into account, "Risnes concludes.

"This is not about discrimination, but about a regulatory framework Norway has committed to follow."

Rejects criticism. "This is not about discrimination, but about a set of rules Norway has committed to follow," says senior adviser at PST, Martin Bernsen. "The sanctions that have been adopted against Iran are the reason why Norway must make this assessment, and this is a practice that is special for some countries, such as Iran and North Korea. Secondly, factors such as the type of subject, academic degree and other individual assessments come into play under advice from PST, "says Bernsen. He has previously claimed to Universitetsavisen that Norway is more liberal towards Iran than some other countries. To Ny Tid, he says that study level is also relevant to the assessment. He also says he understands that today's practice can be frustrating. "This is not about taking things personally, but about rules that must be followed. That said, PST understands that it must be frustrating to start a study and hold on for several months before you receive a counter-notification about residence and have to leave the country, "he says. "PST's role in this is to investigate and prevent weapons of mass destruction. That the source you have spoken to believes that PST has made a gross mistake, I do not want to comment, "concludes Bernsen.

carima@nytid.no