Welcome to Mørkved mottak, you can locate it near the shell gas station with its yellow clear colour. It contains two buildings, each one have two floors and with capacity of 64 people for males only, each room contains two beds, every floor you can find four bathrooms and two kitchens for 16 pepole, and tv room for the whole building.

Many nationalities live in Mørkved mottak, asylum seekers from all around the world: Iraq, Sudan, Palestine, Eritrea, etc., and of course with different languages and cultures make it sometimes interesting to watch this cultural mixture.

If there’s no school or meetings the day usually start after 12am for most of us, beginning with making breakfast if we call it like that in this late time! Part of us go for shopping for lunch and the others in their rooms talk with their families and friends in homelands, and maybe you can find some of us who return back to sleep again because they dont have anything to do, with no work permitions and even if you have that permition it’s hard to find a job with poor Norwegian language.

Sitting in the kitchen is the most popular thing you can see here. Talking about Norway and the new rules, immigration, politics, economy, love and life, but at the end of these discussions every one will leave holding his own opinion without any changes!

It’s the night now and it’s the time for the internet and communicating and tv, it’s so quiet there and some of us cook and the other wait to pack the bread for the next three or four days, we are trying to keep some of our traditional food.

The day will end about 3.00 or 4.00 a.m. and people start to sneak to their rooms but of course you will notice the overcrowding next to the bathrooms! It’s time for sleep now so good night.

- Nazeeh

]]> http://echoesbodo.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/a-day-at-the-camp/feed/ 0 helenhillevi DSC_0505 nazeeh http://echoesbodo.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/%e2%80%9dsome-ideas-may-be-more-destructive-than-the-weapons-of-mass-destruction-%e2%80%9d-steven-asks-why-ask-why/ http://echoesbodo.wordpress.com/2010/04/23/%e2%80%9dsome-ideas-may-be-more-destructive-than-the-weapons-of-mass-destruction-%e2%80%9d-steven-asks-why-ask-why/#comments Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:37:00 +0000 helenhillevi http://echoesbodo.wordpress.com/?p=27 ]]> WHY ASK WHY?

Yes!!! Why ask why? A lot of things are going on around the world today which raise a common question. ”The ‘why’ question… Why is this happening, why me, why are they, why are we, why this, why that, why, why and why?!”

We are part of this ‘why’ question. Since we are part if it, we are equally part of the solution. If we sit there only to ask this ‘why’ question in divers ways without proper solutions, the world will go down in our presence. We have collective responsibilities to answer this ‘why’ question,to solve and to avoid re-occurrence of this stone-aged question. I think it would be wise if we do not let the next generation carry it over.

Wait a minute, ponder over your life, the relationship between you and the people around you, your thoughts about others. Are you obedient,are you making peace, do you tolerate others, do you overlook some certain things, do you show understanding or you spice up whenever you think anyone crosses your border? Ask yourself “why am I asking why, why and why every time?”

You know, today if we try to make peace with one another, believe others, accept blames, take corrections and accept others the way they are irrespective of where they come from, color, background, position or standard in society or in life. If we can trust, obey, respect others, care about humanity at large and obey rules and regulations, we will have less problems. If we try to save our nerves by avoiding silly and unnecessary arguments and try to make less mistakes, we will make the world a better place. And we will never ask many ‘why’ questions.

Do you know that if 80% of the world’s population can keep peace within, of course the peace within will surely activate the peace without and we can keep that peace with our fellow men without discrimination, bias mind, cheat and injustice, we will only ask less why questions.

As we are all finding our rainbows wherever we are, it would be so good if we create and keep the attitude of making peace.With this, we can altogether learn the meaning of life, hold true and through to our findings. We will be successful and friends shall we always be.

Black or white, the same blood flows in us. A black does not have black blood and I am sure a white does not have white blood either. This applies to other races. We all have flesh, veins, arteries, nerves, bones, joints, balls and sockets. So we are the same except few of those differences we have such as beliefs, traditions, religions, gender and background. But if we can as an individual keep all these differences behind us, give understanding to each other and move towards achieving a global peace in all stages, we will make the world a better place.

If we learn by what we see in the sky, we can easily understand that we are from the same origin. For example, the cloud has so many types such as stratus, cumulus, cirrus, cirrocumulus, nimbostratus, cumulonimbus, lenticular, kelvin-Helmholtz, mammatus, altocumulus, stratocumulus and others as the case may be. You know, the joy is, they all come together to form our beautiful cloud. This same cloud that form our sky. So we are the same all over with different colors, ideas, backgrounds, culture, beliefs, races. Believe me,we are all the same.

If only we can accept this simple observation, we will have peace within and without. This is the only way we can live together when we swallow our pride as individual. Then we will stop asking why.

It has to start from you and I. Let us maintain the course of peace in all the areas of our daily activities and lives as a whole. Respect the people, the culture, color, race, tradition, religion, views and background. Do not judge by appearance or any of the above reasons.

It is important at this juncture to consider our ideas and thoughts before we throw or blow them out to the world. Some ideas may be more destructive than the weapons of mass destruction or biological or leather weapons. It is better we look before we leap and not to leap before we look.

Wait, what benefit shall it profit our peace individually if we destroy or wreck havoc to some one’s peace? Encourage one another and at same time tell the truth, then we will live in peace and harmony. But if we cannot do all these things,why do we ask why when things go wrong around us?

Above all, the best advice is the one you give to yourself. And of course when you accept good ones too, you have indeed won yourself some credibility. In other word, you can only shape your life the way you want it to be. No wonder the whole world set aside for a man who knows where he’s going.

My friend, do not forget why you are always asking why. Have you ever considered why some people ended up their lives as been hopeless in life? It is very simple, mostly it is because someone or some people threw verbal weapons into their lives thereby caused a total destruction like that of Hiroshima. And at same time, most of them failed to encourage themselves. So they accepted defeat and instead of courage, they keep asking why, why and why kind of questions? You know!

Nevertheless, rise up to the task and keep the world at peace. Your contribution and my contribution will sail the world to a safer destination where there will be no more prejudice, horror, hatred, envy, superiority, war, nepotism and injustice. Let us see ourselves as one family irrespective of religion, color, background, race, beliefs and gender.

Please sit down for a while to ponder over your life and see if you are conform with this standard.

If you are not, it is not too late to adjust. If not, you will always ask why whenever you face any little challenge.

Finally, it is never too late to answer the question – WHY! Surely when we accept and respect others the way they are and the way we want then to accept and respect us too, when we solve our differences peacefully irrespective of what we are, color, race, background, gender, rich or poor with tolerance and we learn how to live together peacefully with dignity, then together we shall stand. But if we refuse to contribute our quotas to the world peace and stability, then why ask why when we face challenges?

Think deeply my friends, the solution is in your hands and my hands. The answer to this ‘WHY’ question lies in our daily decisions, thoughts and practises of peace with other people. Please let us act very fast and save our world from falling down. Now that we have a clue on the answer,why ask why?

Steven

Bringing up a child is first and foremost the responsibility of the parents. The aim is a good life for the child and knowing the difference between right and wrong. I believe that it’s important that the parents set limits and give good habits to the children.

There are different views about this. In my culture the children get few limits. They follow their own rhythm. When the child is tired, it falls asleep where it is and the parents will carry the child to bed. The child has a lot of freedom, but must also be obedient.

When the child gets older, it will get less freedom. The parents will set limits for the youth and they should follow the rules that are set by the parents for the culture.

If the youth do something wrong, it will be problematic for the whole family. The responsibility towards the family grows bigger the older the child gets.

In other cultures the child meets rules and limits early. The parents will decide when the child will go to sleep. There are often fixed times for sleeping and eating. Slowly the child learns how to make its own decisions.

The parents and the children will reach solutions together. When the child gets more freedom as it grows up. When the son/daughter is a grown-up, the parents will trust that he/she will make right decisions. The children and youth in this culture have the possibility to make mistakes and learn from them. The parents will give advice and set limits. The parents and society will support the youngsters in their gradual disengagement from the family.

Finally I’d like to emphasize that you don’t have to be an expert to understand when the child has difficulties. The most important thing you do is to do something.

- Ibtihal Zakout

Conscience is the word for this feeling for right or wrong. What is creating this conscience? Is it a fear for the authorities? Is the conscience congenital, does it come from God or is it shaped by the society around us?

Psychologists believe that the conscience is shaped by the role models we get from our parents and other adults that we meet when we grow up. First and foremost we are influenced by what grown-ups do and not by the rules they give.

Psychologists warn against bringing up children in a way that is too authoritarian. Children need safety, love and good role models, not punishment and exclusion from their families. A safe and good childhood with much love and respect gives the best chances for the child to become a healthy individual with respect both for others and for himself/herself.

Sometimes we see examples of human conscience that does not go along with the laws in a country. They strongly feel that the right thing to do is to do something else than what is seen as right in the environment they live in.

- Ibtihal Zakout

Jeg heter Miresa og jeg kom til Bodø for snart fem måneder siden (i alt har jeg vært snart sju måneder i Norge). Her skal jeg skrive om hvordan prøver jeg å lære norsk. Det har aldri vært lett å lære et nytt eller fremmed språk spesielt når det skjer senere i mannens liv. Det gjelder mange flyktninger som bor i andre land slik som meg. Mange undersøkelser viser at annerledes faktorer spiller en rolle i fremmedspråk-læring (både arv (nature) slik som ’intelligence’, og miljø slik som tidligere erfaring).

Uansett har jeg overbevist meg selv at jeg må lære å snakke norsk så snart som mulig.

The Way I Am Learning Norwegian Language: Obsession or Determination?

Learning new language has never been an easy job. The difficulty even increases much when the language learning happens later in ones age. Research shows that different factors or variables come in to play during second or foreign language learning, both natural and environmental (nature and nurture theories). Here I want to share my experience of how I am trying to learn to speak ‘norsk’ as fast as possible.

­­­The first point I want to mention is about time management. I can boldly say that I am investing almost all my time and energy into learning ‘norsk’. Though I go to school two days a week which is four hours a week, I convinced myself that only following school is not sufficient. I have to read more than is expected of me by my school teacher. I decided to read others books from the library and also invest some money on newspapers. The first time I bought ‘Dagbladet’, I remember, I was a bit shocked because I must have referred my dictionary (I LOVE MY DICTIONARY) for every single sentence. It took me around half a day to finish a single story of two standard newspaper pages. I continued like this for the first month, but with an improvement every other day. My anxiety to those seemingly ‘terrible words and sentences’ was reduced every time I bought a new newspaper. When I am reading newspapers, for those who are watching me, it looks that I am submitting an assignment to a professor. I have to write almost all new words and the context in which they are used. Sometimes, I have to write down the whole paragraph. It looks tiresome, boring and sometimes hurting to do so. But, I convinced myself that the return would be promising. Now, I believe reading newspapers has affected my ‘norsk’ significantly and positively. I can read newspapers more freely now.

I love my dictionary (hey, I borrowed it from the library). I regard the dictionary as a great ‘teacher’. Sometimes, I wish to go downtown with my dictionary so that I can stop in the middle of a road and look for the meaning of words/phrases in advertisement, and others. Of course, I use a different technique: write down the words/phrases on my cell phone and study the meaning when I manage to home. Hmmm, sometimes, the words I see somewhere in the city or in the library ring in my mind while I am with my friends or in social gathering such as church. I remember asking what the meaning of a word was while friends were busy discussing some spiritual subject in the church. (I understand some have been laughing at me, or making fun of me because it looks weird to do so). Anyways, I don’t feel ashamed because of that. It is okay. I am simply an obsessed learner! Am I not?!

The other very important thing I do is attending to TV programs in Norwegian or with Norwegian subtitles. I have almost abandoned movies which are in English. What TV programs and contensts I watch? I do not care about the content of the program! The only criterion is that it is in ‘norsk’. I believe this also has impacted my ‘norsk’ very much. The first time I decided to follow TV program in ‘norsk’, I barely hear a word but as time goes on, it is going well. I can follow TV programs more freely now. I am happy!

Tips:

These ‘tips’ are just some important study techniques I use to capitalize on my ‘norsk’ course.

1. Root Word: Sometimes you only know one word and you manage to study lots of them. For example:

ARBEIDE- verb- work, labour, toil, function, operate

Once you manage to learn what the meaning of ARBEIDE is, it should be easier to study and remember the following words too:

Verbs

BEARBEIDE –verb- adapt, edit; cultivate; prepare; arrange

OMARBEIDE – verb- revise, re-write, re-edit, rearrange; adapt, alter

OPPARBEIDE –verb- work-up,build up, develop; acquire, obtain

MOTARBEIDe- verb- counteract, work against, oppose, fight

GJENNOMARBEIDE –verb- go through, work over, prepare through

FORARBEIDE – verb- process, prepare, work-up, manufacture

INNARBEIDE – verb- work-in, work-up, incorporate, establish

SAMARBEIDE – verb- work together, cooperate, collaborate

UTARBEIDE – verb- work out, prepare, compile

Nouns

GJESTEARBEIDER- en- guest worker, migrant worker

MEDARBEIDER- en- co-worker, fellow worker, associate, colleague

MARKARBEID – et- field work

HJELPEARBEID- et- refief work

GRUNNARBEID – et- ground work, foundation, basis

LAGARBEID – et- teamwork

HJEMMEARBEID- et- home work

Adjective

OVERARBEIDET- adjective- overworked

Another example may be:

FORGJENGELIG – adjective- Perishable

OMGJENGELIG – adjective- sociable

TILGJENGELIG – adjective- accessible

1. Long words: When you come across some seemingly ‘looooong’ words, do not get scared. Just try to look for the words which make up that ‘looooong’ word.

Examples:

BRANNSLUKKINGSAPPARAT (BRANN – SLUKKINGS – APPARAT) – fire extinguisher

HJELPEMIDDELSENTRAL (HJELPE – MIDDEL – SENTRAL) – technical aid center

1. 1. Knowledge and skill of english is really an advantage but not always. Look for example:

English Norsk

dog (likevel)however, though, yet,still

men but, however

due dove, pigeon

hell luck, fortune, success

bad bathroom, bath

love promise, vow, praise

not net (fishing net)

late pretend, seem, appear, express

god good

Miresa

Starting with Hisham Makki who was assassinated in January 2001, earned a monthly salary of $1500, but became a millionaire until Rafeeq Al Husseini. It’s clear that there is something wrong from the beginning of the PA (Palestinian National Authority) establishment, but neither EU or the USA take any real steps to stop this corruption.

Most of financial support of PA came from the EU and that really gives the need to know what is the control method that was taken by the EU on this support and was that enough? When Hamas won the Palestinian election in 2006 real measures were taken by the EU to prevent Hamas controlling the money, and it’s obvious now that we ask for this kind of monitoring again.

The Palestinians live in poor conditions and they need to be sure that every dollar that comes from outside will be spent in the right way to help and improve their lives. No one can handle to be stolen when he is in real need for everything. We look especially to the EU because we as Palestinians know and believe in the EU equitable and real action in building the Palestinian country.

Hm, I come from a far away country which is the giant of all its kind…. This we always say, our slogan… The giant of all the blacks native land. It is a place where the angels love to eat nothing but only beans.

A land which has all in abundance, a land which flows with milk and honey. Should I talk about crude oil, coal, gas, bitumen or the agricultural produce. What about the location, topography,land mass, weather, international borders, human physical and mental ability and military strength.

Now let me face the fact,what are the benefits of the resources, ability and strength for us today. Where are they when the giant is falling? Wait,here is a question, “where was Goliath’s strength and squad when David defeated him?”

The giant has fallen and was torn apart by the angels who love to eat so much beans. No wonder a writer said ”widening and widening gear, when the falcons can no more hear the falconers, things fall apart and the center cannot be hold.

The angels which the new generations are supposed to copy today as good examples have all become the elements of accusation with little or no respect. The political, spiritual and traditional leaders which are supposed to support the giant to trace itself back to the track have all failed also just because of beans. Oh my God,what a shameful thing.

In my far away land where corruption, poverty, injustice, war, hatred, tribalism, nepotism, intolerance, envy, bias on the rules of law, negligence of duty, crime are walking on their two legs. A place where some local communities are still encouraging rituals with human blood in this 21st century. A place where the angels are above the law.

The 1970s were the years of abundance for the giant. I remember when I was growing up into the world of abundance, surplus, riches, security, happiness, joy and optimistic. Just like yesterday you know. I thought my land was going to maintain that standard just like every other country did in those years. Of course every kid was happy. It was the time we used to recite our national anthem and pledges confidently and with joy. That lovely national flag, the symbol of peace, love and unity became a thing of pride to everyone.

Surprisingly, there was a diminishing return, the happiness gradually becomes sadness, joy for sorrow, optimistic for pessimistic, security for insecurity, prosperity for poverty. Ha! Oh my goodness. Probably our demand was equal to supply, but that’s equilibrium point. Oh oh oh, perhaps we got to the peak of our taste and satisfaction quickly set inn, thereby we can no longer maintain stability.

Look around you,what can you say about the situationin this country you are now. Things are getting better everyday and I am sure it is better than yesterday. A place where all the citizens have hope, joy, happiness and security. A place of high value where a citizen is worth a fortune.

A country that has maintained to sustain and they obtained and retain.

No no no, the principles that caused our diminishing return are against the principles of demand and supply and consumers’ satisfaction or behaviour. In short,they are against any economic or reasonable principles. The angels in my far away country are just being over greedy, they lack good and sensible plans for future, the love of the land is not in their hearts like they used to claim. It is so disappointing that a lot of them do share my country’s national cakes within and save uncountable valuable notes in the hands of the international keepers around the world.

I remember one of the past termite soldiers who ruled my home country for many years under dictatorship system of government, he died and more than half of his valuable notes which he kept in the hands of other international keepers were no where to be found. The little that was found has no place in ledger account.What a surprise and big national disgrace and disaster. Can we say he was a good example in my far away land? He was one of the angels that feed on beans, how many examples should I give here. A lot of examples, but then, I am sure you know the rest of the story. But I do ask myself, “do they think the dead use these valuable notes in the grave?”

In 1950s,Crude oil was discovered in the southern part of my far away country, but today the same has become the blood of the devil. The same is our problem, regions fighting against regions, regions fighting against government and government fighting against regions. A lot of shooting, killings, kidnappings simply because the government fails to perform its duties to better the lives of the people. Imagine the source of a country’s wealth,the life wire of a country is as worst as a rotten wood. A life wire becomes a life to be wired.

In the 21st century all the sensible angels are planning for the future of their citizens and the next generation. But it is a pity that the angels in my far away country are yet to discover themselves.

Which way are we going? Why did angels leave what is right for the sake of beans? The people that are supposed to tell the practical truth with authority and respect have been presented some well decorated packages of beans. Oh my God, what a national coincidence, disaster, disgrace and shame.

Look at what is happening to the giant’s citizens all over the world today, atrocities here and there. We cannot count the numbers of those that are serving in foreign jails. What are the angels in the so-called giant of all the blacks native land doing about that? A lot ran out of the so-called giant because of internal problems,such as war, tribalism, hatred, humiliation, condemnation, persecution, injustice, insecurity, religious crisis and many other worse reasons.

Whenever I remember my fellow men that died in a course of fight for justice and liberation, those that died in a massive military attack, the innocent blood that was shed due to political and religious crisis and encounter and those that were swallowed by the Mediterranean sea just because they want to save their heads and look for a better life in Europe.

Wait my friend, what has the so-called giant done about all these devilish events, hm, the angels are just eating beans. The beans that are supposed to be for everyone, they divert everything to family heritage. And yet they open their mouth to say we are okay, everything is under control and in order when everyone is boiling, yawning, crying in agony of lack, hunger and poverty. Ha! Suffering and smiling has become the masses facial mask, trademark and logo!

We are fighting the processes of eating beans, we are fighting the processes of eating beans every day, that is the tune of the music. They have never won. Wait, is it possible for evil to fight evil? Can the angels that gather together to eat beans still fight against one another? Well, maybe when one claims to be wise, but I do not think it is possible because they have a hierarchy system of sharing. You see, poverty alleviation has changed to poverty elevation.
No freedom of speech, press freedom are restricted to a certain level, no freedom of expression as they claim we have them in my far away land.Who wants to talk? I bet it with you, if anyone does, he may disappear within 24 hours. That happens under my far away country’s political system of government. Hm, political system of government or political yabis of government. Maybe one day someone will do and still stand I think. But for how long?

A country that has lost its values,i ts youths are scattered all over the world today, how can the center be hold? Wait a minute, Shakespeare said “who can be wise, amazed, furious, temperate, loyal and neutral in a moment? No man!” So the center cannot be hold. They rule, they cheat, they kill, they destroy, they abandon, they neglect, they misbehave, we will only have peace when they go. They must go and power must change hands. Enough is enough.

If you are reading this today, it is not to make you laugh. It is a call to challenge all the wrong doings in our various far away countries. Let us stand the course of time and learn by examples and everything around us. Believe me, some people fought for the freedom of this country which we are presently. And I am sure we can do the same in our various countries if only we believe and determine. Remember that determination determines realisation. Whatever a mind can conceive, a mind can achieve. Also, try to remember that history will forgive those who try and fail, but history will never forgive and forget those who because of fear of failure did not try. He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.

Surprisingly, up till now in our far away countries, I mean your country and my country, they still share our national cakes. Your cake and my cake, the cakes that are supposed to be for our general use. The treasures of our heritage. A national emblem that shows we belong to a society as a confirmation of our citizenship in our individual countries. The pride of our heroes, the meaning of being alive, our national security and recognition. Look at it, we were forced out of our land.Our father’s land,we were forced out of our possessions, our belongings, from the land we loved and cared about so much, the land of our birth! Oh my goodness,what a national disaster in our various countries. Think about this my friends. Believe it or not, even the angels still eat our beans in your country and my country.

Steven

Tom Cato Karlsen, the Progress Party (translated from Norwegian)

The Norwegian Progress Party (FrP) distinguishes between immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Immigrant is a term for any foreigner moving to Norway, and FrP distinguishes between western and non-western immigrants. Refugees are foreign citizens coming from a conflict area and who are defined as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Norway is committed to receive a given amount of Quota refugees each year through international agreements or according to government decisions. During the recent years Norway has accepted 1000-1200 Quota refugees from different refugee camps around the world. The last group of immigrants, asylum seekers, are foreign citizens who believe they have a right to be granted a residence in Norway on the basis of persecution in their home country because of ethnicity, political activity, religion or sexual orientation.

Most of the asylum seekers coming to Norway don’t have identification papers. This makes it more difficult to be sure of their identity, and FrP believes this constitutes a major risk for the security of the nation. Norwegian authorities cannot guarantee that criminals are not let in to the country. This was discussed among others by the former Secretary-General of the Norwegian Red Cross, Trygve Nordby. Nordby pointed out that in 2006 the Norwegian special police division Kripos investigated around 70 asylum seekers because of war crime.
It is believed that around 20 war criminals arrive in Norway every year as asylum seekers.
To protect the Norwegian society against asylum seekers who are not positively identified, FrP has suggested closed reception centres in Norway. This means that when asylum seekers arrive in Norway, they will be directly transported to a reception centre where they will get a warm bed, food, health services and medicine, in short: everything you need to be well and safe. The only restriction is that they cannot leave the reception centre while their application is being processed and before their identity is ascertained by the Norwegian authorities. When the identity of the asylum seeker is confirmed and the application is processed, there are two alternatives: If a residence is granted, the asylum seeker can leave the closed reception and take part in the Norwegian integration programme. In the opposite case, if the Norwegian authorities reject the application, the asylum seeker will be directly transported out of Norway without the possibility to move freely in Norway. In this way, the society becomes safer, and we also believe that this will prevent that the immigrants that already live in Norway with a valid residence permit will avoid being perceived as baseless asylum seekers, so-called fortune hunters, as many Norwegians perceive them today.

In addition, FrP has spoke up for reducing the total amount of non-western immigrants with permits in Norway. Norway has liberal rules for granting residences on the basis of asylum applications, compared to most of the other European countries. Still, with this in mind, «only» 2400 out of 8100 asylum seekers were granted recidents during the first 6 months in 2009. This shows that 5700 asylum seekers were baseless and were not entitled to be granted a residence in Norway. This is a very high number. FrP wants to limit the amount of asylum seekers from non-western cultures to around 1000 per year. The background for this is that the apparatus of today is not good enough for integrating the non-western asylum seekers that come to Norway every year. The reception system is overloaded, and those who are granted residence are not given good enough opportunities to integrate into Norwegian society. Ghetto-like settlements are created in the Norwegian cities and the unemployment rate is high among groups of non-western immigrants.

Non-western immigrants are mainly immigrants from other countries than most part of Europe, the USA and Canada. These are immigrants with very different backgrounds compared to ethnic Norwegians, where religion, among other things, controls everyday life. This gives major challenges for immigrants in Norway and Norwegians, especially in terms of forced marriages, female genital mutilation and view of women. These are challenges we do not meet with immigrants from western cultures like Sweden, Great Britain, Spain or the USA. These cultures have the same rules and norms that we are used to in Norway. Therefore, it is very important to ensure a good community education for non-western immigrants, so that they will have a better understanding of the Norwegian society, such as norms and rules, what is expected from the citizens in the Norwegian society, the rights and duties one has as a Norwegian and what we expect from each other. FrP believes that a limit of 1000 non-western asylum seekers each year will give an opportunity to provide better conditions and education compared to today’s deficient system. In other words: Quality above quantity.

Tom Cato Karlsen, parliamentary leader, Bodø FrP