Norway’s immigration agency UDI (Utlendingsdirektoratet) wants to restructure its asylum centers, and open up to 30 new facilities for rejected refugees waiting to be returned to where they came from.
Frustration and sheer boredom have led to unrest at existing so-called “return centers,” with residents burning down one center at Lier last summer. UDI now proposes building new centers with activities, to house those waiting to be returned and those waiting for their applications for asylum to be processed.
Until now, the state only provided minimum shelter and food for those whose applications for asylum were rejected. UDI Director Ida Børresen told newspaper Aftenposten recently that they “didn’t work,” and she hopes centers with programs aimed at easing return will result in less forced deportations.
More centers would accommodate fewer people, with some centers geared for families with children.
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