Norwegian authorities are offering a "bonus" 10,000
kroner (£1,000) to asylum seekers willing to leave the country voluntarily.
The Norwegian Directorate of
Immigration (UDI) says the measure is less expensive than keeping refugees in
immigration centres in the country.
Launched on Monday, the scheme will
run for six weeks, state broadcaster NRK reported UDI saying. The money
will be paid to the first 500 asylum seekers to apply on a first-come,
first-served basis.
“We need to entice more [people] to
voluntarily travel back by giving them a bit more money on their way out. This
will save us a lot of money because it is expensive to have people in the
asylum centres,” Sylvi Listhaug, integration minister, said.
The 10,000 kroner would be in
addition to the 20,000 kroner already given to asylum seekers and migrants
in an irregular situation who wish to return voluntarily from Norway to their
country of origin.
Ms Listhaug said she hoped this
project would be successful and would support those who return to their
homeland voluntarily.
“There
are also many who are not entitled to asylum and
are going to be rejected. It's better for us to encourage them to travel back,”
she added.
The Norwegian government initially
launched financial incentives for migrants to return to their home countries in
December last year.
The International Organisation for
Migration (IOM), which processes the Voluntary
Assisted Return Programme requests
and offers advice and counselling, described it as “safe and dignified”.
Spokesperson Joost van der Aalst
said the number of asylum seekers taking up the offer was rocketing,
particularly among people attempting to bring their families to Norway.
UDI said that many of the people
arriving from Syria, Iraq, the Middle East and Africa expect to receive
protection quickly and cannot wait the months or even years the process can
take.
“Many cannot wait (for the asylum
process to run its course). They have family at home who expect them to be able
to help," Katinka Hartmann, UDI's head, said in December.
“For a long time, Norway has not
been able to forcibly return people to Somalia, but now that we can, I think
that more Somalis with an obligation to leave will opt for assisted
return. “It’s important to have more initiatives of this kind in the
future,” she said.
Ms Listhaug made headlines last week
after floating
in the Mediterranean Sea in an orange survival suit to experience being rescued
from a refugee's "perspective."
Before starting her new role she was
also accused of being insensitive after she
invoked Jesus in an explanation for why Norway shouldn't accept so many
refugees.
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