Repatriation to Afghanistan stopped as mother returns to Norway

AfghanistanAfghanistan.Photo: pixabay.com

The mother of the Abbasi family, who was forcibly dispatched from Norway this weekend, has been returned to Norway. Both in Trondheim and Oslo there have been demonstrations against the repatriation.

The family lawyer, Erik Vatne, told Aftenposten newspaper on Sunday evening that he had been informed by the police that the mother of the family will return to Norway because of her health condition. The transport of her family was carried out as planned. The family were then in Turkey, but will be sent to Afghanistan.

The family consists of a mother and three siblings of 16, 20 and 22 years of age, and the case has involved many participants, especially in Trondheim. The same day that the family were transported from the country, several hundred demonstrators marked their opposition outside the police house in Trondheim according to Adresseavisen newspaper.

On Sunday evening, Rødt Oslo, Oslo Sosialistisk Venstreparti (SV) and Amnesty also held a demonstration against the Afghanistan repatriation outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Oslo. The protesters believe it is not safe for the family to return to their country.

Recently, Afghanistan was voted the world’s most dangerous country in the Global Peace Index, and in 2018, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees asked countries not to force back refugees to Kabul because of the deterioration of the security situation.

Director, Ingunn-Sofie Aursnes at UNE said on Saturday to NRK news that the Tribunal cannot, due to confidentiality, give a reason for why the family is now being sent out from Norway.

The Immigration Appeals Board (UNE) wrote on their website that in the cases they deal with, most Afghanis come from areas where the security situation is stable enough that there is no requirement for protection. In order to stay due to the security situation, the general level of violence must be such that any person would be exposed to real danger just by staying in the area.

The Abbasi family received a temporary residence permit in Norway in 2012, mainly because they did not know where the father was and did not have any male protective network in Afghanistan. When the father appeared in 2014, UNE retracted the residence permit since they no longer believed that the family could not get in touch with the father and so could travel to Afghanistan.

Since 2014, the repatriation has been postponed a number of times, and the Abbasi family have been refused several new applications for a residence permit. The family’s asylum case has also been to court several times.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today

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