Norvège

Opposition party releases plan for quick tightening of asylum-policy

National elections will be held in two weeks in Norway, and the main opposition party, the Progress Party (FrP), has released a 101 point- programme for its first 100 days in government, if it gets elected. The party wants to introduce a motion for closing down the Immigration Appeals Board, tighten the country’s asylum policy and practice, delay the enforcement of the new Aliens Act, work towards more closed reception centres, establish detention centres for persons deemed a threat to national security etc. The goal is to reduce the number of new asylum-seekers per month from about 1000 to 100, and to deport persons who have made so-called unfounded asylum-claims within 48 hours. The Norwegian Refugee Council has rated the different party manifestos with regards to their asylum-policy, in which FrP comes out as the worst, whereas the governing Socialist Left Party and Labour Party are ranked as the best. In an opinion poll made by Synovate, immigration and asylum policy is ranked the 7th most important election issue for respondents, and 12% regard it the most important issue