The Norwegian border controls will be extended for another month, that is until the 12th of May. This extention is due to take into account controls with regard to public order and internal security, according to the department for justice.
This means that checks on persons taking ferries arriving from Denmark, Sweden and Germany continues.
The control measure has a good preventive effect, and there has not been any report saying that it has led to considerable inconvenience for ordinary travelers, says the misnister for Justice and Emergency, Anders Anundsen.
Since Norway introduced individual inspection on persons taking ferries from Denmark, Sweden and Germany in November 2015, this has led to a significant fall on the number of asylum seekers. In the last two weeks that number was very few (that is 120 asylum seekers). In total this year the number reached 900, and it must be noted that is the lowest number since 1993.
– There is still a lot of pressure on the Schengen external borders, and many unregistered foreigners in the Schengen area may wish to move to another country. For now it is still too early to state whether the agreement between the EU (European Union) and Turkey has had the desired effect in the long term, and we see that the number of arrival for asylum seekers in Italy increases. Therefore there is still the need for Norway to inspect its sea border, says Anundsen in a statement during a presse conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Sweden recently decided to extend its border controls until the 8th of May, and Denmark has also done so until the 3rd of May.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
