Asylum policy strictest in Europe
February 17, 2011
Norway’s policies for granting asylum and residence status to immigrants are among the strictest in Europe, according to some human rights experts. Between 1996 and 2008, 5 million undocumented migrants were given the right to stay in Europe. None were allowed to stay in Norway. “Even when he has a choice, (Labour Prime Minister) Jens [...]
Ethiopians give up church refuge
February 14, 2011
The last of nearly 100 Ethiopian refugees who failed to qualify for asylum in Norway gave up their week-long occupation of the Oslo Cathedral (Domkirken) on Monday. Now they’ll await their fate at an asylum center in Oslo’s Torshov district. The Ethiopians marched to the cathedral last Monday, launched a hunger strike and set up [...]
Refugees seek refuge in cathedral
February 8, 2011
Around 100 Ethiopian refugees whose applications for asylum in Norway have been rejected marched to the Oslo Cathedral (Domkirken) on Monday and many then sought refuge inside. They’ve since launched hunger strikes in the hopes of winning legal residence permission. More than 50 Ethiopians remained camped inside the nearly 400-year-old cathedral on Tuesday, reported Norwegian [...]
Deported refugee still keen to return
February 7, 2011
Celebrated but deported refugee Madina Salamova, better known as Maria Amelie, remains in Moscow but is making progress in her efforts to legally return to Norway. Salamova was sent back to Russia following one of the most high-profile deportation cases ever. Now Salamova, who came to Norway as a teenager and stayed on illegally after [...]
‘No regrets’ over Amelie’s deportation
January 25, 2011
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg says he has no regrets over the controversial deportation of Maria Amelie to Moscow on Monday. She now faces a lot of paperwork to satisfy both Russian and Norwegian authorities before possibly being allowed to return to Norway. Newspaper Dagsavisen reported that it may take months before Amelie, now presumably using [...]
Amelie put on a flight to Moscow
January 24, 2011
Public protests didn’t help: Rejected refugee Maria Amelie was ordered onto a flight to Moscow Monday afternoon, after losing her appeals to remain in Norway after spending a third of her life in the country. She was accompanied onto the flight by two police officers, and her boyfriend. Amelie, who was arrested on January 12 [...]
Hundreds rally for illegal aliens
January 24, 2011
Demonstrations continued over the weekend to demand more rights for the thousands of undocumented workers who have been in Norway for many years. A long list of high-profile officials put out a call for at least moderate forms of amnesty for people who otherwise face continued exploitation and fear. Several bishops, the leaders of humanitarian [...]
Photos: Protesting Amelie’s arrest
January 24, 2011
Angry protesters staged torch-lit parades in Oslo and other Norwegian cities following the dramatic arrest of illegal alien Maria Amelie on January 12. Hover your mouse over the photo and click the arrows to navigate this photo series. Nine photos in total. Click here to open the gallery.
Krekar faces indictment and jail
January 21, 2011
Mullah Krekar, charged last fall with making threats and inciting terrorist acts, now faces indictment by Norwegian prosecutors and could get hit with a 15-year jail term. It seems increasingly unlikely that he’ll be sent back to northern Iraq, either forcibly or of his own free will. A spokesman for Norway’s police intelligence unit PST [...]
More protests for the ‘paperless’
January 21, 2011
Several major human rights groups were planning more protests during the weekend to demonstrate the plight of undocumented workers in Norway (called “papirløse,” literally “paperless.”) Meanwhile, the government moved forward on Friday with plans to slightly ease the rules for them, but Norway’s most popular paperless worker still faced deportation. Nearly 30 organizations were mounting [...]
Amelie could be safe in Ossetia
January 20, 2011
North Ossetia, the republic in the Caucasus where Norway’s award-winning illegal alien Maria Amelie was born, was dominated by criminal organizations in the 1990s. According to people who know the country well, the situation is much different today and Amelie could be sent back safely. During the 1990s the Russian government had relinquished power in [...]
Krekar suddenly keen to leave
January 20, 2011
NEW ANALYSIS: As thousands of Norwegians protest the pending deportation of Maria Amelie, a rejected asylum seeker who nonetheless integrated herself into society, many welcomed indications that another far less popular refugee is willing to go home. “Mullah Krekar is free to leave whenever he wants, tomorrow for example,” Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told [...]
Amelie free pending deportation
January 19, 2011
Norway’s highest court ruled on Wednesday that illegal alien Maria Amelie must be allowed to remain free until she’s eventually sent out of the country. Amelie, who was released from custody on Tuesday, said on national TV that Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg now holds her life in his hands. “It is in fact Jens Stoltenberg [...]
Amelie set free after protests rose
January 18, 2011
An appeals court in Oslo repeated its order from Monday that Norway’s most celebrated illegal alien, Maria Amelie, be set free from police custody at an asylum center near Gardermoen. She was escorted out of detention shortly before 11am on Tuesday by her defense attorney Brynjulf Risnes. Hundreds of Norwegians had held another protest demonstration [...]
Initial release was short-lived
January 17, 2011
An appeals court in Oslo ruled Monday that Norway’s most popular illegal alien, Maria Amelie, must be released from custody but immigration police immediately appealed. That means she remains in detention, still risks deportation, and so far has won no reprieve from the government. Members of the government worked through the weekend in the hopes [...]
