700 children born in Norwegian asylum centres since 2015

Baby FeetBaby Feet.Photo: Frank May / NTB scanpix

Exactly 700 children have been born at Norwegian asylum reception centres since 2015. Life at the reception centres is demanding, and the smallest children are particularly vulnerable’, warned Redd Barna charity organisation.

 

For the 259 children born in asylum centres who were still living at there at the end of June, the average period of residence was 366 days. The average for those born since 2015 is 279 days, wrote ABC News after receiving figures from the Immigration Directorate (UDI).


‘We know that growing up in uncertainty, and in temporary residence with parents is a challenging life situation. In some cases,it may go beyond the ability of c caregivers to cope. At centralised reception centres, people live in crowded conditions, and
everyday life is characterised by feelings of isolation and passivity. These are negative factors in a child’s life’, said section leader,Thale Skybak of Redd Barna.

Save The Children Charity believes that children between one and five years old must go to kindergarten to normalise everyday life.


‘As far as possible, all asylum-seeking children in reception centres aged between four and five years old will be offered full-time kindergarten space upon application from the reception centre,’ said UDI Communication Advisor, Kristian Nicolai
Stakset-Gundersen.


He added that asylum-seeking children will be offered free core hours at kindergarten from two years of age.

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today