Norwegian young people are detained in Somalia for bad behaviour

Ministry of Foreign Affairs aid moneyMinistry of Foreign Affairs of Norway. Photo: Statsbygg

Prison inspector, Rune Greve, warned that Norwegian teenagers are being detained in Somalia because their parents are not happy with their behaviour.

 

Greve, a prison inspector for the correctional service in Norway, visited a prison in Garowe, Somalia last year. He told NRK that during his stay, he met a Norwegian-Somali teenager who was ‘rehabilitation prisoner’. He didn’t understand why he was there.

Greve said several young inmates in prison are in this category.
‘These are inmates who have behaved in a way that their parents and family don’t want. They are being held in jail after having been before a judge, paid a fine, and received a ruling.’

However, the Ministry of Justice in Puntland in northern Somalia rejects the allegation.

‘As far as we know, no prisoner is being held on this basis. We have laws and regulations, no one is imprisoned for no reason. What has been told to you is not correct.

The prison Management also rejected the claim of imprisonment of European citizens. But communications advisor, Astrid Sehl, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that they know of the situation.

‘We are aware that there are several Norwegian citizens of Somali origin who are in jail in Somalia,’ she told NRK news channel. Sehl confirmed that Norway, at a high political level, has raised the subject of dialogue about the prisoner’s conditions on behalf of the Norwegian citizens.

 

©  NTB Scanpix / Norway Today