UDI, UNE and the police estimate that there will be between 3,000 and 12,000 asylum seekers to Norway next year and that the most likely figure is 8.250 asylum arrivals.
Newspaper VG writes that the prognosis is more than twice as high as the last estimate issued by the Department of Immigration (UDI) for 2016. UDI believes there will be 3.550 asylum seekers to the country this year.
– The pressure on Europe is high. The situation has not improved in Syria or in Eritrea where there have not been any changes, and it’s not much better in Afghanistan or Iraq either.
The situation for refugees in Turkey or Lebanon is not better either, says Marie Hesselberg, who is head of the unit for statistics and analysis of the UDI.
The Immigration Board (UNE) together with the police produce the directorate forecasts for asylum seekers to the country.
Currently, the number of new asylum seekers is at its lowest since 1997, while there were over 31,000 asylum seekers last year.
Border Controls in Europe are helping to keep the numbers down this year, but if these controls are abolished, the number of asylum seekers could rise again.
It doesn’t mean that we will be at the same level as last year, but it will definitely have an effect, says Department Director in UDI, Aleksander Åsheim . The EU aims to ensure that border controls in the Schengen will be removed again by the end of the year.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
