Police find human smuggling route

Norwegian and British police have uncovered what they believe is an organized human smuggling route between Brevik on Norway’s southern coast and Immingham in England. The smugglers allegedly hide their human cargo in containers shipped on board ferries that run in scheduled service between the two cities.

The alleged smuggling route was revealed publicly after …

Broke immigrants told to go home

Labour Minister Hanne Bjurstrøm had a message over the weekend for hopeful immigrants from southern Europe who’ve been arriving in Norway in search of jobs: “Go home.” Bjurstrøm worries they won’t find jobs, and won’t be eligible for any help, either.

“If there’s no work for them, then there is no work,” Bjurstrøm told both …

New immigration rules may be eased

Justice Ministry officials are promising to at least “adjust” tough new immigration rules that have made it increasingly difficult for foreign spouses of Norwegian citizens to obtain residence and working permission in Norway. Even immigration agency UDI (Utlendingsdirektoratet) thinks the new rules are too strict, and has recommended changes.

“We have received UDI’s reports on …

Momentum grows for global talent

Norway’s fast-growing population of foreign and globally oriented residents are making their presence known and their voices heard, as they try to break into tightly knit Norwegian networks or form their own. The scores of them who packed a private Oslo home on Monday night proved the momentum they’re building, and they even managed …

Music prize show ended in scandal

Norway’s annual music industry awards show called Spellemannsprisen started off with complaints from top classical artists like pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, and ended in scandal over the weekend, after one winning pop band made a racial slur against their prize presenters. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) held a crisis meeting on Monday over whether the slur would …

People from Poland ‘will be heard’

Immigrants and guest workers from Poland make up the largest group of foreign residents in Norway, and now they’re expected to start making their voices heard. With tens of thousands of people from Poland now living permanently in Norway, they can form an important political lobbying group.

Jakub M Godzimirski, a senior researcher at the …

Revised constitution to boost equality

Norway is in the process of revising its constitution (grunnlov) in advance of its bicentennial in 2014. The goal is to strengthen constitutional provisions for human rights, but at least one local politician sees the revision as an opportunity to tackle racism, anti-semitism and discrimination in Norwegian society.

Heikki Holmås of the Socialist Left party …

Minister admits: ‘We have a serious discrimination problem’

A new study has proven what many people in Norway already knew: Your chances of landing a good job in the country are dramatically lower if you don’t have a Norwegian name, and women still face challenges securing executive positions. The findings have upset, even embarrassed, top politicians who like to think Norway is …

Government tightens au pair rules

Norway has more long-term visitors on au pair contracts than ever before, and now the government is cracking down on abuse of the program, in an effort to prevent it from simply providing inexpensive domestic help to local households.

The crackdown has been expected for the past two years, after concerns rose that young persons …

Population approaches 5 million

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg mentioned it in his New Year’s speech over the weekend, and state statistics bureau SSB has the numbers to confirm it: Norway’s population will surpass the 5 million-mark some time this year.

The country’s population stood at 4,985,000 on New Year’s Day. That’s up from 4,479,000 in 2000, and more than …

Violence declines, but not for all

Police are crediting a decline in random street violence in Oslo this month on a concerted effort by themselves and the public to battle it. One woman from Congo, however, was still the target of an ugly racist attack in the midst of holiday and Nobel Peace Prize celebrations.

Jessica Kiil, a mother of three …

Immigrants over-qualified at work

A professor at the University of Bergen says she’s not surprised by a new study showing that 26 percent of workers in Norway with immigrant background are over-qualified for the jobs they have. She suspects discrimination is behind the figures.

“There seems to be a pattern that immigrants more often than ethnic Norwegian employees find …

IKEA wins prize for employment diversity

Home furnishings retail giant IKEA has won the annual prize awarded by the state to recognize ethnic diversity in the workplace. At its IKEA Furuset store on Oslo’s northeast side, fully 62 percent of the employees have minority background.

Among them is Sanjay Lakhanpal, an engineer from India who told newspaper Dagsavisen that he faced …

Immigration’s image gets a boost

Norwegians have become more positive towards immigration since July 22, when a right-wing Norwegian extremist unleashed terrorist attacks aimed at stopping it. New research suggests his murderous rampage seems to have had the opposite effect.

The research, conducted by state statistics bureau SSB (Statistics Norway), shows major increases in positive response to issues involving immigration. …

Politician on leave after death threats

Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a Member of Parliament for the conservative Progress Party, has been placed on leave after receiving death threats and warnings of severe bodily injury. The threats are linked to his political views questioning the merits of immigration.

Tybring-Gjedde has been among those accused of inflammatory rhetoric against immigration, not least in a column …

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