Half of the asylum children with temporary residence have disappeared

asylum seekers july - UDI familyThe Norwegian Department of Immigration (UDI). Photo Norway Today Media

443 out of 913 asylum children who have been granted temporary residence in Norway have disappeared, according to a new report prepared by NOAS, Redd Barna and Fellesorganisationen.
The three organizations are criticizing the way the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) do case processing, writes VG. They have obtained figures from UDI about these children who have been granted temporary residence permits since the scheme was introduced in 2009.

“The Norwegian authorities want to have a policy in place so that those single minors who do not need to be safe guarded or protected return to their country once they reach 18, but it is not being handled,” says counselor Mona Reigstad Dabour in NOAS.

According to the newspaper, only 73 of the 913 asylum-seekers have been forced to return, resided in, or voluntarily returned to their home country.

– Under Norwegian law, the UDI is obliged to make an assessment for the best interest of the child and the reasons for their decisions, and they have not done so in these cases. We think this is very serious, says section leader Thale Skybak in Redd Barna.

The organizations present a report on Monday that will indicate that “what is best for the children” is not mentioned in 32 of the 38 assessment cases they have reviewed and that the same standard text is used in 20 of the rejections.

UDI says the report comes with important inputs but that they have not been presented to the relevant individual cases and therefore can not comment on the reasons for these.

Monday, SV, MDG and Red present a proposal for a temporary suspension of all returns to Afghanistan.

 

©  NTB Scanpix / Norway Today