Page 54 - MY Book - My Voice

Reception centers for refugees in NorwayPeople from many countries are coming to Europe and Norway for various reasons. Some have ed from war in their home country, some have escaped from military service, some have escaped political or religious persecution, others have escaped a life of poverty and no prospects and hope for a better life.Refugees can get asylum (protection) in Norway if they are eeing war or fear persecution in their home country. In general, Norway doesn’t accept immigrants. Upon arrival, refugees and migrants must register with the police and apply for asylum. Because of many arrivals, most refugees have to wait several months before doing the interview with the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI). After the interview, they must wait for UDI to process the application and determine whether they shall be granted a residence permit or not.Refugees and migrants arriving in Norway are o ered to stay at a reception center while their application is being processed. There they will receive some nancial assistance to buy food, necessary medical treatment and information. If you chose to nd your own accommodation or live with family or friends, you will lose the right to nancial and medical assistance.If you are nally granted a residence permit, you will still have to wait in the reception center until a municipality is ready to receive you.If your application is refused, you will be asked to leave the country. In some cases, people are not able to return to their countries, because they lack con rmed identi cation, they are stateless or their home county doesn’t accept them. They will then be allowed to continue to stay at the reception center, but without any prospects of starting a life in Norway.At the reception centers there are people from all over the world and in di erent stages of their application process. The situation of passivity and waiting is stressful, and when some are denied and some are granted a residence permit it a ects everybody, it puts a lot of pressure on the residents to live like this over time.Quite a lot of young people come to Norway alone, unaccompanied by parents or relatives. Applicants under 18 years old are considered children and have more extensive rights than adults. The rst 2–3 months in Norway the minors stay in special centers where there is more sta and activities to meet the special needs of this group.All children and youth beneath 18 years have a right and an obligation to attend school in Norway, also asylum seekers. Partners in Norway has been HERO and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA).WorkshopsThe workshops in Norway have been carried out at two reception centers, Dikemark and Hvalstad. Hvalstad is a center for unaccompanied minors. The youth have the opportunity to participate in activities like sport, music and art. They can go to school every morning to learn Norwegian, and they get health care and guidance.The art workshops have been carried out over a period of 3–4 months, one day per week. The participants come from many di erent countries; the largest number is coming from Afghanistan, then52