The government will cut sharply on insurance for refugees

Oslo.Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Anniken Hauglie ( Conservative Party )Oslo.Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Anniken Hauglie ( Conservative Party ).Photo: Torstein Bøe / NTB scanpix

The government will tighten a variety of welfare benefits for refugees. Instead of the minimum pension and disability insurance refugees will be put on state social assistance.

The proposed changes to the social security legislation for asylum seekers and refugees, was circulated for discussion Monday. The government has proposed to abolish most of the special rights for refugees.

One of the main changes is to remove the exemption from the requirement of 40 years of residence to receive retirement and disability benefits. This means that refugees hereinafter do not automatically obtain the minimum pension once they pass the age limit, or get disability benefits based on persistent illness.

– By removing special rights for refugees, this group is treated equally with all other groups in Norway, or as Norwegian citizens who return from long stays abroad, Minister of Labour Anniken Hauglie said.

– It is important that we do not have welfare systems that are arranged so that more people choose to come to Norway, said Labor and Social Affairs.

Benefits allowed

Instead of the right to a pension or annuity, the government will have them on a so-called supplemental benefit, a form of social assistance.
This will make about as much as the current minimum pension, but should be applied for each year.

– You do not get dependent’s allowance and can not take the benefit with you abroad for more than 45 days, informs Hauglie-, which will also give Nav greater opportunities to verify beneficiaries.
The government, however, has not considered on how much bigger workload Nav will get because of the changes.

Best to work

The Government also proposes to raise the residence requirement from three to five years for the cash and a variety of other benefits. These changes would affect social security schemes linked to salary earnings, unemployment and sickness benefits.

– We want it to be profitable to work, she says.
Tightening will apply to all those who have been in Norway for less than five years and who have not yet applied for benefits.

Economic tightening measures will, however, take full effect only in 2060. When the government estimates annual savings of between 2.4 and 4.6 billion.
In preparation of the proposal Progress has a solid hand on the wheel, according to social policy spokesman Erlend Wiborg.

– This Progress worked for many years. There is no reason why immigrants should have better rights than ethnic Norwegians, he says to NTB.

 

Source. NTB scanpix / Norway Today