Organizations: Norway should accept 5,000 quota refugees

Balukhali refugee camp.Photo(AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Organizations: Norway should accept 5,000 quota refugees

Twelve relief organizations have agreed on three common requirements for next year’s State budget.
The demands were presented at a press conference on Refugee Aid on Tuesday, and appear in a joint letter from the organizations to the parties at Storting.

It states that twelve Norwegian NGO’s are asking  the Storting to adopt the following three core issues:

  • Increased support for the local neighborhoods in the aid budget.
  • That Norway receives at least 5,000 quota refugees next year.
  • That refugee costs in Norway are excluded from the aid budget.

Amnesty International , Norwegian Church Aid, Refugee Aid, Norwegian People’s Aid and Save the Children are among the organizations that are appealing.

In the letter, they point out that more and more people are fleeing from war and conflict and that the needs in the local communities are the greatest. They also indicate that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees requests Norway to receive more quota refugees.

“Norway is among the countries in Europe with the biggest decline in the number of asylum seekers in 2016 and 2017. We now have the lowest rates for over 25 years, despite the fact that the need for global sharing of responsibility has never been greater,” they say.

The relief organizations indicate that Norway should receive 3,229 quota refugees this year, plus 1,252 relocated asylum seekers from Greece and Italy.

– 5,000 quota refugees represent a very moderate increase in the number of refugees we commit to providing for with protection in Norway, it is stated in the letter.

The Government’s State Budget proposal for 2018 will be presented on 12 October. Thereafter, the Conservatives and the Progress Party will negotiate with the Liberals and the KRF on the budget to secure a majority in the Storting.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today