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 [...]

Exploitation plagues Polish workers

Workers from Poland have been building homes, offices, schools and otherwise making a solid contribution to Norway’s economy for years, but they still face discrimination in the labour market. Government officials vow to continue their fight against workplace exploitation. A new study reported by newspaper Dagsavisen and in other Norwegian media this week shows that [...]

Royals attend memorial for Poland

King Harald, Queen Sonja and Crown Princess Mette-Marit were among those attending a special memorial service Tuesday evening for the victims of a plane crash that killed the president of Poland and several other high-ranking government officials over the weekend. The services were held in Trefoldighetskirken (Trinity Church) in Oslo, which has been serving as [...]

Norway mourns Poland’s tragedy

Mourners streamed by Poland’s embassy in Oslo to leave flowers and light candles over the weekend, after a plane crash killed Poland’s president and many other top Polish officials. An estimated 100,000 Poles live in Norway, and as Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said, “they need our attention and sympathy today.” The mood outside the [...]

Growth boosts Poland’s image

Forget the stereotype of the seasonal worker from Poland who travels to Norway every summer to pick strawberries. With Poland’s own economy on the rise, the country now is more likely to produce highly qualified workers who will opt to return home quickly. Newspaper Aftenposten used three pages in one of its weekend editions to [...]

Foreigners boost their ranks

Nearly 334,000 persons with foreign passports were living in Norway last year, reports state statistics bureau SSB. That still only amounts to 7 percent of the population, but it’s up 10 percent from the year before, with workers from Poland still fueling the growth. Fully 66 percent of all non-Norwegian passport holders in Norway are [...]

Poland's envoy 'extremely worried' over his countrymen in Norway

Poland’s ambassador to Norway told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) Monday evening that he’s deeply concerned over the poor working and living conditions to which many of his countrymen are subjected in Norway. He’s not alone: Norwegian labour activists are also trying to stem the exploitation of foreign workers, but most workers themselves don’t dare complain for [...]