Local authorities should be more proactive and forward-thinking when it comes to the reception of refugees. And if despite increased support does not receive more, the state could impose it.
municipalities must accept more refugees
By Kirsten Hasvoll (SV), country director in KS, and Ivar Johansen (SV) Board member of KS
Local authorities should be more proactive and forward-thinking when it comes to the reception of refugees. And if despite increased support does not receive more, the state could impose it.
4,500 refugees who have been granted a residence permit in Norway waiting in reception. They need to start their new life in Norway. An ordinary life, which involves staying in a home, learn Norwegian, go to school, get a job and new acquaintances. Today they live “in the state”.
this basis adopted national executive in KS a statement about how municipalities can more refugees. The statement had two main objectives, lack of housing and lack of money. A straightforward statement, but we think enough municipal Norway should be more proactive and forward thinking. Both residential and money is important but not sufficient.
It’s time to focus on other reasons why municipalities do not accept more refugees. And it’s time for asking why and how so many municipalities successful in the settlement and integration of refugees, while others will not even try. Why are there such large differences between relatively similar municipalities and counties in terms of how many refugees they settle?
While refugees waiting and waiting and waiting, they fill up the seats in state reception centers, which means that the State must establish even more reception centers. Or they live in decentralized reception centers, that is, in ordinary homes in the municipality where the reception centers compete for rental housing in the open market. It is the state that pays their stay, just as the state provides cost recovery to the municipalities that receive refugees for settlement.
The Old Maid game is mainly the state and municipalities pushing responsibility and money between themselves. The state pays, but has no right to instruct the municipalities that all municipalities must receive a certain number.
Many municipalities claim that there is a housing shortage that is the reason why they do not accept refugees. But 10 to 15 refugees may not be essential that there are no vacant homes a municipality. On the contrary, it seems that to be a correlation between the lack of housing for refugees and other groups who are struggling in the housing market, for example. first time buyers, socially disadvantaged and students. If lack of housing really is the real reason, one must ask why the local authorities have not focused on residential construction in the past, or why they have not taken care of various disadvantaged groups in the housing market.
Now one must stop playing Black Peter. Many municipalities have received a large number of refugees over many years, and the success of the integration of these. Why not take a closer look at what they have done? Does the example. used grants from the Housing Bank in a different way than the other, or found other models for the construction of rental housing? Do they have expertise in school, day care, with nurses MCA makes sure they are safe on the challenge of accepting refugees? How are the grants they receive from the state? Do they have a NAV office actively working to refugees in the job? And they have a good adult education that teaches people to speak Norwegian? Is there a local labor market that fits the expertise refugees? Do municipalities opportunity in this labor of their own business? Municipalities need new hands in the healthcare sector in the coming years, new residents help cover this? Many municipalities require new residents of working age to sustain the population and municipal services. Can new residents contribute to it?
There are a lot of knowledge about the local government settlement work in IMDI ??- Integration and Diversity. KS should now put up with IMDI ??and analyze good practice, create a “cookbook” for the successful settlement of refugees and spread them to other municipalities, so that others can make the right moves. So, a new agreement with the state on receiving refugees built on this.
Maybe the new settlement policy should be based on capacity building, training of teachers and health professionals, strengthening NAV’s services and a general increased focus on vulnerable groups in the housing market. Better quality of language teaching both children and adults. And focus on NGOs as one does in many other countries. In the budget proposal for 2014 is integration grants increased. Thus, should the discussion about money being finalized and municipalities ready to accept more refugees.
And if municipalities still do not accept refugees, the state could impose it, as they do in all other cases.
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