Norway:`Christian' immigrants only
01 January 1991
Norway:`Christian' immigrants only
artdoc April=1993
`Christian' immigrants only, say Progress Party
In the run-up to the September `93 general election, the far -
Right Progress Party is highlighting the issue of immigration.
One official, Fritjot Frank Gundersen, has said that only
Christian immigrants should be allowed into Norway and party
leader Carl Hagen, in comparing the current situation in Norway
to that of the former Yugoslavia, has said that Norway must
actively return refugees to their home countries. Hagen also says
that immigrant parents who are not able to teach their children
to speak proper Norwegian when the kids start school should lose
custody of their children.
Meanwhile, the extreme nationalist `Norwegian Patriotic Unity
Party' is attempting to gather the necessary 5,000 signatures to
register the party before the general election (Tonsberg Blad
18.2.93).
Police arrest victim of racist attack
An immigrant injured by a Norwegian who, attacked him and his
friends in a restaurant, was refused help by the police. Instead,
they took him to the police station, and placed him in a cell for
the night (Tidens Krav 10.2.93).
Meanwhile, eye-witnesses support the claim of a Moroccan man,
who says he was attacked by a policeman in Oslo who pushed him
up against a police car whilst another officer released a dog on
him which bit him on the arm.The man was initially too frightened
to report the incident, but eye-witnesses contacted the press and
now a complaint has been filed (Afterposten 9.2.93).
Hunger-strikes in Trondheim and Tromso
Ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo, in the former Yugoslavia,
have staged hunger strikes in Trondheim and Tromso in protest at
a government decision to deport them.
The government, in line with a decision to withdraw temporary
shelter to refugees from Kosovo and the republic of Macedonia,
had announced the deportation of 1,200 ethnic Albanians. Human
rights groups, who point out that Norway has one of the most
restrictive refugee policies in Europe (less than 3 percent of
asylum applicants are accepted) say the refugees should be
allowed to stay on humanitarian grounds, and that the decision
to deport the refugees has been made as a `deterrent' to other
refugees from Kosovo.
Hashim Gygalla, a spokesman for the hunger-strikers, says that
the refugees will be rooted out and punished by the militia if
they are sent back. But the government refuses to reverse its
decision. The Ministry of Justice and police chiefs in southern
Norway have initiated `Operation Kosovo' to coordinate future
deportations (IPS-News 15.2.93 and Samora Newsletter).
Racism fascism Europe
IRR European Race Audit no 3, 1993.
Contact: Liz Fekete, Institute of Race Relations,
2-6 Leeke Street, London WC1X 9HS. Tel: ++ 071 837 0041