– Dad is the most important person in my life. I can’t live without him, says Noordin Liban Wako. He is 13 years old. And the oldest of the four children who now fears that dad will be thrown out of the country. The youngest is only eight months old. Noordin has sent a letter to UNE. There he explains everything his father does for the family and begs the tribunal to let him stay. – He makes breakfast, dresses us, follows and picks us up from school, writes the 13-year-old in the letter. Father Liban Wako Sora looks after the children while mother Batula Jarsso studies and is at work from early to late. – I’m afraid that dad will be thrown out of the country while I’m at school. Without me saying I have it, says Noordin. Papa Liban helps Noordin pack the training bag before soccer practice. Photo: Rosa Iren Villalobos / news Feeling fear in everyday life The father of the family fears for the future of his wife and children. Both he and his wife have lived with concerns about deportation since 2008. – It is very painful to live with that fear all the time, says Jarsso. It was in 2008 that Wako Sora first had his asylum application rejected. Four years after he applied for asylum in Norway. After this, according to UNE, he stayed in the country illegally. Their decision confirms that he has been deported with a two-year ban on entry to Norway. He does not dare to return to his native Ethiopia. – I don’t know what will happen to me in Ethiopia, I don’t know if I will die. Maybe I won’t come back to Norway. There is no guarantee for me, he says. Batula Jarsso’s wife was granted protection in 2009. She and Sora met in Norway at an asylum reception centre. Both Jarsso and the children are Norwegian citizens. Her husband also does not have permission to work in Norway. Thus, he is the one who helps the children in everyday life. She studies and works as a cleaner at a school to support her family. – I could not have done anything without him and his help. He is a father who is always there for his children. I can’t put into words how much he means to us, she says. The family describes a difficult situation. The children fear that dad Liban could be thrown out of Norway while they are at school. Photo: Rosa Iren Villalobos / news Responds to the fact that the best interests of the children are not sufficiently emphasized The Norwegian organization for asylum seekers (Noas) represents the family. The organization has tried several times to overturn the expulsion decision. But UNE believes that consideration for the children does not weigh as much as the fact that the father of the family has stayed in Norway illegally. – The only mistake father has made is that he has not dared to go back to Ethiopia, says senior advisor at Noas, Jon Ole Martinsen. He believes that it is an obviously weighty consideration for the children that father should be allowed to stay in Norway. Senior adviser in NOAS, Jon Ole Martinsen. Photo: Stig Jaarvik – What we are reacting to is that the best interests of the children have not been sufficiently emphasized. This is a good example of the strong and urgent need to change the current regulations, so that children are not exposed to the trauma of losing one of their carers. In a letter sent to UNE, it is pointed out that: “according to child psychologists and research on attachment psychology, being separated from a primary caregiver can have very serious consequences for a child’s development.” In a chronicle in Vårt Land, psychologist specialist Heidi Wittrup Djup writes about children who become ill from anxiety, eating disorders and depression as a result of the separation. Wittrup Djup is also a member of the Norwegian Psychological Association’s Human Rights Committee (MRU). Human rights Human rights are rights that all people have, regardless of gender, age, orientation, outlook on life, nationality or where in the world they live. They basically always apply and they are indivisible. The UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights consists of 30 articles that define what is meant by human rights. Examples of civil and political rights The right to life The right not to be tortured The right not to be imprisoned without law and judgment Freedom of speech Freedom of religion Freedom of organization Right to vote Examples of economic, social and cultural rights The right to work The right to education The right to a satisfactory standard of living The states have duty to implement and protect the human rights of everyone who is within the state’s borders and where the state has so-called jurisdiction, or dominion. Source: The United Nations (UN) – Gross violation of the Immigration Act UNE’s decision is final, and they have closed the case. The decision states that Liban Wako Sora is obliged to leave Norway immediately. Acting head of unit at UNE, Erik Mathisen, points out that Wako Sora has not complied with the departure deadline after his application for protection was rejected in 2008. – He has therefore stayed illegally in Norway for 15 years. It is a serious breach of the Immigration Act, which provides grounds for deportation, Mathisen writes in an e-mail to news. Acting head of unit at UNE, Erik Mathisen. Photo: Kristine Søgaard Lomnes / UNE He also says that the children’s best interests must be a fundamental consideration in such cases. – But that does not mean that what is in the best interest of the children always prevails in these cases. Here, we have concretely assessed the children’s interests against the seriousness of the breach of the Immigration Act, and it is this breach that has weighed heaviest. Extract from the decision in the case from UNE The seriousness of the relationship The complainant has currently stayed illegally in Norway for a period of approx. 15 years. He is still staying illegally in Norway and has not complied with decisions and decisions from the immigration authorities with associated departure deadlines. This constitutes a serious breach of the Immigration Act. Starting points If the deportation case affects children, the child’s best interests must be a fundamental consideration. Even if the child’s consideration speaks against deportation, other considerations can be so heavy that, after an overall assessment, one comes to the conclusion that the UDI’s decision must be upheld. The complainant has committed very serious breaches of the Immigration Act. In this case, it is a starting point for the proportionality assessment that the children must be exposed to unusually large loads for deportation to be disproportionate. The children’s situation UNE bases its assessment on the fact that there will be a family split between the complainant and the children during the deportation period of two years (…) UNE does not believe that the best thing for the children would be for the complainant not to be deported. Nevertheless, UNE believes that the children will not be exposed to unusually large loads. Consequences The complainant cannot return to Norway and the Schengen area as long as the entry ban applies. Breaking the entry ban is punishable (…) If the complainant does not leave the country, the police can take the complainant out of Norway. UNE has sent the decision to the Sør-Vest police district for follow-up (…) The departure deadline has been missed and the complainant is staying illegally in Norway. Previous decisions can therefore be implemented without notice. Mathisen writes that he understands that the situation is difficult for both the children and his spouse, and admits that it is not in the children’s best interest that he be deported. – But we still do not consider that the children will be exposed to unusually large loads without their father for two years. They still want their mother here, who UNE considers to be a good carer. Practical challenges are not enough to say that expulsion is disproportionate. Willing to strengthen children’s legal security The Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness writes in an e-mail to news that they cannot comment on individual cases. They are decided by UDI and UNE. The ministry is considering strengthening children’s legal security. But nevertheless believes that Norwegian regulations are in accordance with obligations under international law. – Earlier this year, the ministry issued an instruction to the UDI that can shorten the actual waiting time before parents who have been temporarily deported can be reunited with their family, the ministry writes. A proposal has also just been submitted for consultation. In the proposal, the ministry wants there to be a low threshold for deportation cases affecting children to be dealt with in a full board meeting at UNE. – This is a measure that we believe can be of great value for an even more legally secure and trust-building treatment of the cases in question, writes the ministry. In the latest rejection letter from UNE, it is stated that Batula Jarsso can seek help from public support schemes during the period the complainant is expelled, if there is a need for it. Martinsen in Noas believes it is unreasonable to split the family. – The public sector can never replace the care of a father. The children are injured and traumatized, says Martinsen.
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Father of four from Ethiopia is thrown out of the country by the Immigration Service – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
