The number of asylum seekers in Norway drastically fell after the country went into lockdown in March according to UDI. Between April and May less than a quarter of normal registered.
Many of the asylum seekers who registered after the Corona measures were implemented were already in Norway according to UDI, which on Thursday, clarified how the Corona crisis affected the situation for the refugees and asylum seekers in Norway.
-“Given the situation with the closing of borders in both Norway and the whole of Europe, we are not surprised. This is what was expected and is a natural consequence of what is happening now in Europe.” said the Director of UDI, Frode Forfang to NTB.
The expected number of asylum seekers, due to the Corona crisis, has been adjusted from 3000 down to 1200 for this year according to Forfang.
– Will increase again
During April and May, just under 10 were registered every week, in comparison with January and February having over 40 per week in what would otherwise be the normal average.
In June, however, there has been a slight increase in the numbers and UDI expects the numbers to increase in the future.
-”We believe that the numbers will change after things loosen up in Europe, but how quick it will be until the situation returns to normal or until one recieves a pent up need, will be difficult to say. There are only speculations.” said Forfang.
The quota for refugees will not be achieved this year
As stated by Forfang, Norway will not be able to reach its quota of 3000 refugees this year. UDI expects there to be a total of around 2000 and 2500 new refugees in Norway in 2020
In addition, the amount of EEA citizens that came to Norway in April and May fell sharply with a reduction of 80 percent in comparison to the same period last year. During these two months a total of 560 people came to Norway compared to last years 3,050.
Moreover, the amount of people applying for family and student visas have been more than halved since the Corona crisis. This too is likely to increase this fall, as suggested by Forfang
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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