– This is a scandal for children’s legal security and safety in Norway. It’s almost like I don’t believe what I’m reading, the more that comes out. So says Tobias Drevland Lund, parliamentary representative for the party Red. Tobias Drevland Lund in Rødt. Photo: Mette Ballovara / news At the beginning of April, the Norwegian Police Directorate (POD) acknowledged routine failures on several points when unaccompanied minor asylum children and young people disappear from reception and care centres. news has repeatedly tried to get Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) to speak, but she has not wanted to comment on the findings. Drevland Lund thinks it is incomprehensible that the Minister of Justice has not done more in the case, and does not understand what she is waiting for. Dag-Inge Ulstein (KrF) is also disappointed with the Minister of Justice. Dag Inge Ulstein in KrF Photo: Silje Rognsvåg / news – It is incomprehensible that she does not feel a stronger responsibility to go concretely into this now in view of the crystal clear reports that have come after the revelations, he says. He refers to 13-year-old Danish Filippa who disappeared last Saturday. Here, all available resources were immediately mobilized and they succeeded in finding her. Afterwards, an adult man confirms that she has been subjected to a criminal act. – It would have worked out if the police let this case lie and wait for 57 days before they did something, as they did with the asylum seeker Agathe (16) who disappeared seven years ago. news has previously told this story. Admits failure against asylum children The Police Directorate’s conclusion comes after an internal review which was launched in December, following the revelation that the police rarely or never look for asylum children and young people who disappear. It is news and the Center for Investigative Journalism that over a longer period have surveyed the police’s work with disappearances over the past eight years. The directorate has now gone through 62 of the cases involving missing unaccompanied minor asylum children and young people, and admits that there have been routine failures and inadequate work in many of them. They mainly reviewed cases involving children who disappeared when they were under 15 years old. news has been given access to a number of investigative documents involving asylum children and young people. Photo: Phillip Hofgaard / news Asking the police to step up Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) remains silent, but State Secretary Geir Indrefjord (Sp) writes in an e-mail that the findings show that the police must do a better job. Geir Indrefjord, State Secretary (Sp) Photo: Magnus Buer / Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness – The police and other actors must improve their response when minors disappear from asylum reception. He refers to a working group that is in the process of ensuring this. Furthermore, the ministry will ensure that the authorities receive updated guidelines and routines that they must follow when a child disappears from reception. But this is not enough, believe the other parties in the Storting. Requires an investigation – Mehl does not take missing asylum children seriously, says Lan Marie Berg of the Green Party. In January, she challenged the minister on the matter from the floor of the Storting. – Then Mehl said that she assumed that the police are doing what they are supposed to. It was obviously not right, says Berg. She now expects Mehl to support an investigation into what has happened to the children to ensure that no more children disappear. Ingvild Wetrhus Thorsvik (V) supports this. She believes POD’s findings are alarming and discouraging. Ingvild Wetrhus Thorsvik in Vestre. Photo: Per Kåre Sandbakk / news – I think the Minister of Justice takes a surprisingly passive attitude when she only wants to tinker with routines and guidelines, but does not address the underlying reasons why these children disappear, she says. In May, the Storting will consider the proposal from Rødt, SV, MDG, Venstre and KrF to initiate an investigation. Vestre has also proposed that child protection must take over responsibility for unaccompanied asylum seekers between the ages of 15 and 18. A closer follow-up will be able to prevent disappearances in the future. The Conservative Party wants quick measures Mari Holm Lønseth in the Conservative Party. Photo: Silje Rognsvåg / news Mari Holm Lønseth (H) believes the case is serious and points out that measures must be taken quickly to improve the situation. But she is skeptical about an investigation. – A separate investigation process may mean that it takes longer to arrive at points for improvement, but if the government does not show a will to address the matter, we will be able to see a need for a closer investigation, says Holm Lønseth (H)
ttn-69
The police fail missing asylum children, but the Minister of Justice is silent. – news Vestland
