The number of people applying for political asylum in Norway has dropped by 21 percent in the last week. That’s the largest weekly reduction so far this year.
There has been a strong increase of people applying for political asylum in Norway lately, and the Norwegian Government estimates that 15 000 people will apply for political asylum in Norway in 2008.
On September 3 rd, the Norwegian Government announced that they would introduce stricter asylum policies. The following week saw the number of new asylum seekers drop from 434 to 341, according to Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten.
That’s a 21 percent reduction from the week before, and it’s the biggest weekly reduction so far this year.
The police immigration department says that it’s too soon to tell if this reduction is permanent, and as a direct result of the announced changes of the policies regarding asylum seekers.
Bad weather
- We’ve seen similar trends in previous years, where there has been a significant reduction of people applying for political asylum at the end of the summer, spokesperson for the police immigration department, Roar Hansen says.
He also believes that bad weather can contribute to the reduction of new asylum seekers queueing up outside the offices of the police immigration department.
Minister of labour and inclusion, Dag Terje Andersen (AP/ The labour party) is happy with the new numbers.
-It’s too early to draw any conclusions yet. There are just too many variables, but it’s positive that there has been a reduction in the numbers of people applying for asylum since the Government decided to introduce stricter legislation in this area, Andersen says.
Source VG Nett
There has been a strong increase of people applying for political asylum in Norway lately, and the Norwegian Government estimates that 15 000 people will apply for political asylum in Norway in 2008.
On September 3 rd, the Norwegian Government announced that they would introduce stricter asylum policies. The following week saw the number of new asylum seekers drop from 434 to 341, according to Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten.
That’s a 21 percent reduction from the week before, and it’s the biggest weekly reduction so far this year.
The police immigration department says that it’s too soon to tell if this reduction is permanent, and as a direct result of the announced changes of the policies regarding asylum seekers.
Bad weather
- We’ve seen similar trends in previous years, where there has been a significant reduction of people applying for political asylum at the end of the summer, spokesperson for the police immigration department, Roar Hansen says.
He also believes that bad weather can contribute to the reduction of new asylum seekers queueing up outside the offices of the police immigration department.
Minister of labour and inclusion, Dag Terje Andersen (AP/ The labour party) is happy with the new numbers.
-It’s too early to draw any conclusions yet. There are just too many variables, but it’s positive that there has been a reduction in the numbers of people applying for asylum since the Government decided to introduce stricter legislation in this area, Andersen says.
Source VG Nett
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