UDI has now issued decisions to individual refugees from Mogadishu in Somalia that they no longer have refugee status in Norway.
Last year Immigration notified 120 refugees from Mogadishu that they are no longer considered as refugees.
The UDI has now done so, and their assessment is that the security situation in Somalia’s capital is considered to be significantly improved and that this state of affairs has lasted over time. The prime reason being that al-Shabaab withdrew from the area in the autumn of 2012.
– These are people who quite legitimately received asylum in Norway because the situation in Mogadishu at the time meant that they were entitled to protection.
When after three years of stable conditions applications for permanent residence are reviewed, the Ministry of Justice required us to consider the foundation for stays once more, says Divisional Head of Affairs in UDI, Hanne Jendal.
The Ministry of Justice has given UDI instructions about the revocation of refugee status and residence permits when the need for protection is no longer valid.
The refugees from Somalia are covered by this instruction and apply to around 1,600 people who have received temporary residence and protection in Norway.
– In cases where we make the decision to rescind the permits to stay, we will however continue to consider whether the person should be granted continued a residence permit in Norway nonetheless because of strong humanitarian considerations or connection to Norway, what is in children best interest or due to health problems, Jendal states.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
