Norwegians try to be open to immigration. But like any small, homogeneous society that does not have a melting pot heritage, assimilating lots of immigrants is a challenge here. I was almost shocked by signs on the trams reading “Going Home with a Future: For information about voluntary return, contact…”
When I asked my Norwegian friends about this delicate issue, they explained that they see two kinds of immigrants: those who want to become Norwegians, and those who just want to work hard for a while, earn some serious money, and go home and be set up. But many immigrants from that second category kind of get stuck here, never intending to really settle in, unhappy, and a drag on Norwegian society. This program is hoping to nudge those who wish to return to their homeland…with a little help from the Norwegian government.
Hey there.
Concerning the issues you raise, I’d like to shed some light on the campaign and the organization behind it.
IOM is the organization behind these boards. That is, the International organization for Migration. The aim of this campaign is to assist people who don’t have legal stay, who are victims of human trafficking etc to be able to return to the country of their origin voluntarily. It’s hardly got anything to do with integration or aggressive approach to illegals, it’s actually the opposite coming from an organization exclusively working for the welfare of immigrants.
Secondly, I find it unwise to “ask some locals” and make this represent what locals in general think about immigration. People disagree about this, as people disagree about all policy issues. I’m born-bred in Oslo and extremely supportive of immigration and asylum grants. Immigration is a complicated issue and different kinds of immigration can’t be compared. I find it strange the biggest and richest country of the western world is so reluctant to accept asylum seekers. In 2010, 74k were accepted as refugees to the US while 21k were granted asylum, totalling 95 k. That is only about three times as much as Sweden alone, a small country of 9 million inhabitants.
http://www.osloby.no/nyheter/Oslo-pa-europatoppen-i-integrering-7113468.html
This article refers to a study finding Oslo 2nd of all cities in europe when it comes to integration. Remember, integration and assimilation is not the same thing. How can a society claim to be multicultural when assimilation is the only answer to integration? Some common ground and common values should be found, but the kind of assimilation that we’ve seen in the US will probably not happen in europe given the safety nets and the willingness of the political left to not actually assimilate, but let people keep their own heritage to the largest degree possible.
As an immigrant in Norway I find this interesting and Asbjørn’s comment enlightening.
I came to work as a tour guide in Bergen (as I speak French and German) and have possibly gotten trapped here, by a beautiful Norwegian girl as much as the beautiful scenery I came for.
I find the attitudes of Norwegians vary immensely when it comes to immigrants. Those I work with are very open to them as they see immigrants as being hard motivated workers. I work in restaurants when there are no tourists and being a low paid job is full of foreign workers. However some of the comments I hear from customers can be very silly. They say they hate immigrants to my face but then proceed to say I am different because I am Irish. This isn’t about skin colour though because it seems I often get ranked better than Swedes. It is a strange conundrum.