Norway tightens border controls
Ferries and other transport arteries into the country are subject to closer inspection
Photo: Color Line / Wikimedia Commons
Ferry operators on the Color Line have already stopped a few asylum-seekers from bording a ferry in Hirtshals, Denmark.
Michael Sandelson
The Foreigner
Norway’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security says that the announced “temporary border control” move is to stop people without required travel documentation entering Norway.
According to Progress’ (FrP) Justice Minister Anders Anundsen, it concerns ferry routes between Norway and the Continent.
The carriers will also be obliged to conduct checks on passengers’ documents at European terminals. It will allow ferry companies to refuse people embarkation if these are found not to be valid.
“A further tightening of so-termed territorial controls will be introduced in areas near the [Norway-Sweden] border too,” the Minister explained in a statement.
He also underlined that asylum seekers registered in Sweden that have crossed into Norway will be returned according to the rules of the Dublin Regulation.
Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister of Sweden and leader of the Social Democrats, has told reporters that the present high influx of refugees into his country is unsustainable.
He has announced that several measures will be introduced to stem this.
Some 80,000 migrants and asylum seekers have arrived in Sweden the past two months (Norway Ministry of Justice figures), and that Sweden’s asylum seeker reception system “is about to break down,” officials state.
“We fear that the flow [of refugees] coming to Norway will increase to an even greater degree when Sweden undertakes a further tightening,” Norwegian Conservative (H) Prime Minister Erna Solberg informed broadcaster NRK.
Speaking with TV2, she commented that the new restrictions will not remove access for asylum seekers, but make it easier to stop persons not entitled to protection.
The Norwegian Government’s additional curbs took effect on Thursday, November 26, from 8:00 a.m. local time.
This article was originally published on The Foreigner. To subscribe to The Foreigner, visit theforeigner.no.
It also appeared in the Dec. 4, 2015, issue of the Norwegian American Weekly.
