A group of 10 young Palestinians finally won support to finish their medical school studies in Norway, after they were brutally interrupted by the war in Gaza. Now in Oslo, they’ve also been granted passes for free local transport from members of the Oslo transit workers’ union.
“We have a long tradition of solidarity with groups in conflict,” Solemann Razzaq of the union OSA (Oslo Sporveiers Arbeiderforening) told newspaper Dagsavisen. He said the union wanted to support the Norwegian government’s decision to override immigration authorities, who had initially denied the Palestinians entry into Norway even after the University of Oslo had extended an offer to the 10 Palestinians to continue their education in Norway. The authorities feared the students would not travel back to Gaza, but would rather remain in Norway when their final semester is over.
That set off protests in Parliament that called for the Norwegian government to step in. It did: “Suddenly we had 10 young Palestinians who wanted to complete their medical school education,” said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. “We could contribute to that.”
His government instructed Norway’s immigration agency UDI (Utlendingens Institutt) to reverse its decision and grant entry visas to the students. “We are very happy to be here,” one of the students, Mohammed Yosri Abo Selmyia, told newspaper Khrono. “Words can’t describe what we feel. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to study here.”
NewsinEnglish.no staff
