On conferences: The European refugee situation and the role of civil society

Norsk Folkehjelp hosted a conference on The European Refugee Situation and the Role of Civil Society on 8 December. The presentations themselves were interesting, but the most memorable point was a brief exchange during a question from the audience: After Vigdis Vevstad’s presentation situating the current legal (and, to some degree, political) situation, a woman […]

On pushback to stronger border controls

Jørgen Carling in NRK discussing smuggling — De som ønsker å søke om asyl, må levere asylsøknaden på grensen. Grensekontrollen i Sverige førte til at antallet asylsøkere til Norge ble halvert på en uke, sier UDI. – Markedet for menneskesmugling ville blitt borte dersom det eksisterte trygge flyruter til Europa. Men da ville flere ha kommet, […]

On possible solutions

Quoted in NRK, Norwegian Minister of Justice Anders Anundsen — intentionally or not — promotes refugee resettlement as a solution: – Ideell løsning Anundsen skisserer det han mener er en ideell løsning på flyktningkrisen i Europa. – Norge og Nederland tar til orde for at man må plukke ut flyktninger fra flyktningleire i nærområder, og […]

On regional tensions

Heightened tensions in the region these days — Norway: via IMDi: 18,000 flyktninger må bosettes i 2016 26.11.15: temporary border controls resume in Norway 80.000 migranter og asylsøkere har ankommet Sverige de siste to månedene. Det svenske mottakssystemet er i ferd med å bryte sammen, og onsdag varslet Sverige derfor tiltak for å redusere tilstrømmingen av […]

On public lectures: Navigating Nakivale @ RCC

Morten Bøås gave a lecture at the Oxford Refugee Studies Centre on “Navigating Nakivale: the borderland economy of a refugee camp” on 13 November 2015. The talk focused on how the combination of conflict + different types of interventions produces outcomes: “what matters is not only the cards you were dealt, but your ability to play them”. […]

On refugees after Paris, et al.

General: The science behind why people fear refugees related: what current debates are really about, “what we’re debating right now is really more about American feelings (our sense of security versus our sense of righteousness) than it is about macro-level solutions to their crisis.” from: Europe’s refugee problems, and ours Our reaction to terrorism is […]

On Norwegian public opinions

Nordlys commissioned a survey by InFact to find out current public opinion on how the government is handling the influx of refugees and asylum seekers in Norway — Forrige uke kom det 2452 asylsøkere til Norge. Det er ny ukesrekord og har skapt et massivt press på norske myndigheter for å håndtere situasjonen. Samtidig svarer […]

On meetings: Migration Across the Mediterranean

On 30 October 2015, I attended the Migration across the Mediterranean: Challenges and Solutions meeting hosted at Institutt for samfunnsforskning. The timing of the meeting was spot on: halfway through the budget addendum went public, relating specifically to the discussions of the Ministries represented. Also always interesting to hear discussions of more the technical issues […]

On Norwegian budget debates

[this post will be continually updated as debates about the final national budget continue — changes in immigration law included] 23.11.15: Her er budsjettet samarbeidspartiene skal godkjenne i dag 19.11.15: Disse innstramningene er partiene engige om 16.11.15: Krever at asylinnstramminger blir midlertidige 11.11.15: Anklager opposisjonen for politisk spill om asyl 10.11.15: Dropper flytningforhandlinger med kun […]

On push factors

Emanuel Stoakes in Foreign Policy’s Dispatch blog discusses testimonies and documentary evidence shown in the new Al Jazeera documentary, “Genocide Agenda” that purports to link the Myanmar government to anti-Muslim incitement. The film points to a multi-pronged strategy by the government to encourage anti-Muslim hatred across the country, while pursuing policies against the Rohingya that legal […]