Sputnik International

02:03 GMT +3 HOURS 08 DECEMBER 2015

Money Talks: Norway ‘Paying’ Asylum-Seekers to Leave Country © AFP 2015/ NTB SCANPIX / TORE MEEK
EUROPE

00:26 08.12.2015(updated 00:28 08.12.2015)
Topic: Major Migrant Crisis in Europe

Norway appears to have found a way novel to tackle the country’s refugee crisis: offer asylum-seekers cash to get out.

Along with a one-way ticket paid for, each refugee who made it to Norway could receive tens of thousands of Norwegian kroners if he or she agrees to leave the country voluntarily.

Hordes of foreign nationals arriving from Syria, Iraq and Northern Africa seek asylum in EU countries, believing that the Norwegian government will  be able to take care of them right away, but officials say the asylum process can take months or even years.

"They thought they would have the opportunity to work or take an education — and maybe even to get their family to Norway," said Katinka Hartman, head of the immigration department's return unit (UDI), according to NRK Television.

"Many cannot wait (for the asylum process to run its course). They have family at home who expect them to be able to help," said Hartman.

She also stressed that Norway has long had issues accommodating displaced persons from Somalia, and this latest initiative may help with that as well.

Refugee Inflow Through Russia-Norway Border 'Huge Challenge'
"For a long time, Norway has not been able to forcibly return people to Somalia, but now that we can, I think that more Somalis with an obligation to leave will opt for assisted return," outlined Hartman. "It's important to have more initiatives of this kind in the future."
More than 900 people have already applied to accept financial support from Norway and depart for their home countries, according to UDI data.

A couple with two kids can  receive up to 80,000 kroner ($9,400), in addition to their flights paid for.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) processes applications for the Voluntary Assisted Return Programme (VARP), which also provides counselling services and transportation assistance for refugees. They described the initiative as "safe and dignified," according to the Independent.

Record high fudning gap affects #Syrian refugees and many more. Governments must double their relief budgets http://t.co/kyygsZcxOv/

— NRC (@NRC_Norway) December 7, 2015
The number of refugees taking advantage of the offer is on the rise, according to spokesperson Joost van der Aalst.

"Earlier this year, the number was an average of 100 per month," he told NRK. "In October, there were 150 and in November there were 230 applications."

Norwegian police estimate that up to 65,000 people seeking asylum could arrive in the country by the end of the year.

Related:
Norway's PM Refuses to Shut Border With Russia Over Migrant Influx
Norway Opens Largest Refugee Camp on Russian Border
Norway Seeks to Return Syrian Asylum Seekers Arriving From Russia

Tags:
migrants, money, refugee crisis, International Organization of Migration (IOM), Norway
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Money Talks: Norway ‘Paying’ Asylum-Seekers to Leave Country

http://sputniknews.com/europe/20151208/1031388355/norway-pay-refugees-leave.html/

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Norway, Norwegian news in English - Norwaynews.com

http://www.norwaynews.com/en/Asylum_Norway.php/

Noway has taken in 8,500 just in the month of October.
They now require passports to neighboring countries (1st time since 1955). Border & refugee issues etc.



* Many articles on Norway taking this 'pay' approach *

I'm sure this won't blow up in their face.

Free money acts as a great deterrent.

Nothing like chumming the waters to make the sharks go away.

Geez Louise I wish somebody would pay me to leave..lol..jk.

I like profit.

Is Norway paying enough, to make it worth my time,
for them to pay me to leave?

Norway Is Teaching Male Immigrants How to Treat Women

http://jezebel.com/norway-is-teaching-male-immigrants-how-to-treat-women-1749075392/

Norway Teaches Male Migrants How To Treat Women:

http://youtu.be/sbIjpufRzz0/

3 yo boy allegedly ‘gang raped’ at Norwegian refugee center

Published time: 13 Jan, 2016 13:30
Edited time: 13 Jan, 2016 13:44

3 yo boy allegedly ‘gang raped’ at Norwegian refugee center

— RT News http://www.rt.com/news/328753-norway-toddler-raped-refugee/

Migration

Norway tells refugees to get on their bikes back to Russia

Alec Luhn in Moscow

Thursday 14 January 2016 10.28 EST
Last modified on Thursday 14 January 2016 11.12 EST


Norway has said it will send refugees back across its Arctic border with Russia on bicycles.

About 5,500 people, most of them Syrians, cycled through the Arctic Circle Storskog crossing in 2015 to take advantage of a loophole in border rules: while Russia does not allow people to cross on foot and Norway does not let in drivers carrying people without documents, bicycles are permitted at both ends.

Sylvi Listhaug, who was appointed Norway’s first immigration minister in December with promises to crack down on the refugee flow, said this week that all those who crossed at Storskog without a transit visa would be sent back to Russia, according to English-language Norwegian news site the Local.

The Norwegian national police directorate said it was trying to avoid sending the refugees back on bicycles, but it has ordered that bikes ditched after the crossing “be gathered up for use by the foreigners who will be returned to Russia”, a police official, Jan Erik Thomassen, told the broadcaster NRK. “I can understand that it feels a bit awkward and odd,” he said.
Bike shortage stems flow of refugees using Russian Arctic route to Europe


As hundreds of thousands of refugees fled to Europe last year by boat across the Mediterranean, a smaller number took the long way around, travelling to Norway, which is a member of the visa-free Schengen area, via the Russian Arctic. They typically obtained Russian visas in Damascus or Beirut – some even went so far as to enrol in a Russian university to get a student visa – then flew to Moscow and took a train to Murmansk. From there, it was about 130 miles from the Norwegian border, where they were placed in refugee camps.

Although Russian business owners have reportedly been charging several hundred US dollars for a bicycle and a ride to the border, the route is still far cheaper than being smuggled across the Mediterranean.

The two countries began bouncing refugees between them in November after Norway said it would send back asylum seekers with Russian residency permits, but Russia refused to take them.

Svetlana Gannushkina, an immigration activist, said Syrians sent to Russia would not be deported but were unlikely to receive legal status. Of the 12,000 Syrians now in Russia, according to official figures, 2,000 have been granted one-year temporary asylum and 2,000 another legal status. “They’ll illegally travel around Russia, as they did before. Many refugees here are in a suspended state with no status.” She said Russian authorities gave visas to Syrians, but they often did not provide them with legal status or assistance in integrating.

Refugees without legal status face being held in detention centres or fined. Although Russia previously deported some Syrians to Turkey, Turkey no longer accepts them, and there have only been isolated instances of Syrians being sent back to their homeland.

Gannushkina said Russia had awarded permanent asylum to only 790 people, of whom two were Syrian. “What is 790 people for Russia?” she said. “That’s one apartment building"

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/14/norway-tells-refugees-bikes-russia-bicycle-immigration-storskog?CMP=twt_b-gdnnews/