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Cold Comfort: Norway Deports Refugees to Russia

© AFP 2023 / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND Refugees walk alongside there bikes to the Norwegian border crossing station at Storskog after crossing the border from Russia on November 12, 2015 near Kirkenes
Refugees walk alongside there bikes to the Norwegian border crossing station at Storskog after crossing the border from Russia on November 12, 2015 near Kirkenes - Sputnik International
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Due to new changes in the country’s migration law, the Norwegian authorities have started deporting hundreds of refugees to Russia.

Refugees sleep outside the entrance of the Swedish Migration Agency's arrival center for asylum seekers at Jagersro in Malmo, Sweden, November 20, 2015 - Sputnik International
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"Norway considers Russia a safe country, so migrants who have Russian visas or a permanent residency status must return to Russia," a Norwegian Directorate of Immigration representative told RIA Novosti.

According to the news agency, about 600 refugees were refused asylum by the Norwegian authorities during the last two months.

"They didn’t tell us anything, didn’t give us any explanation – they just came to the refugee camp one night and said that all who have Russian visas or resident status will be sent back home," a deported Afghan refugee who called himself Misha told RIA Novosti. "They only told us to pack our things."

A girl enters a the temporary reception center for refugees at Storskog border station near Kirkenes in northern Norway at the Norway-Russia border on October 13, 2015. - Sputnik International
Norway Returns Refugees to Russia
The news agency points out that many recently-deported asylum seekers actually lived in Russia for many years and decided to follow the example of thousands of migrants who currently flock to Europe seeking better life.

The refugees often depart from Norway via the country’s border with Russia on the very bicycles they used to enter the country, as the law forbids crossing the border on foot.

About 5,500 refugees, most of them from Africa and the Middle East, have entered Norway via the so called ‘northern route’ since August, according to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration. Russia’s border with Norway is approximately 200 km long and the only national land border between two countries to be located entirely within the Arctic Circle.

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