The government’s proposed austerity made the situation unreasonably hard for asylum children, says the Child Ombudsman.
– The overall burden of tightening is so great that it approaches discrimination, writes Anne Lindboe in an article in the newspaper Dagbladet.
She cites several points in the government’s proposed austerity which caused this tightening but also practices that are in place today.
Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers do not receive the same care through the child welfare as other children in Norway get, many minors over 15 years may only have a temporary stay, families with children in reception centers receive very little financial support and asylum children are not entitled to kindergarten or to school education and many families are kept in special camps.
Lindboe points out that a lot of kids are going to be resident in Norway or in Europe and she fears discriminatory practice will hamper integration.
– People who feel that they have been treated unduly discriminated will quickly fall outside the community.
Children receive a bad start on integration, we risk major social problems in the long term, writes the Child Ombudsman.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
