The Ministry of Justice has reduced the estimate for how many asylum seekers who may be expected to Norway this year from a maximum of 60,000 to probably around 25,000.
The estimation group for theimmigration administration (BGU) has changed in connection with preparations for the consideration of the revised budget in May cahnged its the estimate on the number asylum seekers that are likely to arrive in Norway this year.
In September last year, when the state budget was presented, the forecasts showed that there would be between 10,000 and 60,000 asylum seekers to Norway this year, with around 33,000 considered to be the most likely outcome.
Now the Ministry has stated that the estimate has been revised down to between 5,000 and 50,000, with around 25,000 considered to be the most likely outcome.
According to the Ministry of Justice, things are still uncertain, but the Ministry states that the border controls taht have been implemented in Europe have resulted in low numbers of applications in Norway. The probability that the border controls will persist has also increased.
Last week Immigration Director Frode Forfang said to NRK that he assumed that the estimates are “highly uncertain” but that the number of asylum seekers will be significantly lower than previously estimated.
There have been 879 asylum seekers in total coming to Norway during the first eleven weeks of 2016. The two largest groups are Afghans and Syrians.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
