Letter from a norwegian detention center to the ‘Minister of Migration and Integration’, Sylvi Listhaug

there’s a norwegian version further below!

To the Minister of Migration and Integration, Sylvi Listhaug (postmottak@jd.dep.no) and to the Norwegian Directorate for Immigration’s Northern Region Office (rkn@udi.no)

In copy:
The Mayor of Sør-Varanger, Rune Rafaelsen (rurf@svk.no)
The Norwegian Organization for Asylum Seekers (noas@noas.org)
The municipal newspaper Sør-Varanger Avis (redaksjon@sva.no)
The Director of the UNHCR bureau for Europe, Vincent Cochetel (cochetel@unhcr.org)
Halvor Frihagen, Lawyer at Advokatfirma Andersen & Bache-Wiig  (frihagen@abwiig.no)

Saturday, January 23, 2016

Dear Sir / Madam,

I want to inform you that I am under arrest without having violated any law or committed any crime. This reminds me of the many times I was arrested by the repressive Sudanese regime for my peaceful activism and for defending my rights and the rights of exploited people. But this time I am under arrest for trusting the human rights values and obligations of the Norwegian State.

Israel: Refugee Marches for Freedom and Mass Demonstrations

Indeed, we are going through some intensive days… the trigger that started all this is the amendments of the anti infiltration bill (adopted by the government in respond to the supreme court ruling in September 2013) changing the policy from detaining the asylum seekers in prison to detaining them in an “open facility”. the open facility has no fences but just like the prison – it’s run by the prison authorities, its placed in the desert 60 KM from the nearest city and asylum seekers are required to report three times a day for a headcount. the day after the open facility was open, the refugees started marching to Jerusalem in a protest for their arrest. They were brutally arrested and punished – returned to the “real” prison without their gear nor blankets and – – it’s COLD in the desert…