– It was sad and scary to move in here. I never thought it would happen. I thought it would be alright. Married couple Tamar and Harout Jakarian stand inside Bremnes church in Bømlo in Vestland. Last Friday, they packed up their things and moved out of their detached house nearby. The church has become their new home, indefinitely. In a small room in the church, staff have laid out a mattress. They also have access to a toilet and a sink, but no shower. Photo: Olav Røli / news The Syrian couple were actually supposed to be sent out of the country before the weekend. Because after several years in Norway, UDI found out that they had Armenian citizenship and were therefore not entitled to a residence permit in Norway. Their two grown children are allowed to stay in the country. – We fled Syria to save our children and now I have to leave them. We can’t do that, they say. Tamar Jakarian came to Norway with her children Natalie and Pogos almost ten years ago. Soon after, her husband Harout arrived. Photo: Olav Røli Local newspaper Bømlo-Nytt has written several stories about the Jakarian family. – Don’t know what to do The couple say they didn’t know about the citizenship from Armenia. But since UDI sees the country as safe, they must leave Norway. They should have left on 19 May, but with two grown-up children and a life in Bømlo, they did not want to get on the plane out of Europe. – I have bought a house here. I run a restaurant and work in the vocational training. I don’t know what to do. We don’t know anyone in Armenia, says Harout. The solution was to move into the local church. The couple own this detached house in Bømlo. Now they do not know what will happen to the home if they are sent out of the country. Photo: Olav Røli / news Afraid that the police will make an arrest in the church room – We are worried that this will weaken respect for the sacred room, says Jan Christina Kielland, director of the Norwegian Church. He says they have confidence in the police, but that they are afraid that any political decisions will lead to changes in the police’s practice. – We are concerned that the police do not come in and remove someone from the church room by force. He emphasizes that church asylum is never a good and long-term solution. – But we must respect the church’s calling to protect those who need it. This is what the Ministry of Justice wrote to news: There are no longer any special arrangements or guidelines for church asylum in Norway. It is thus the same routines in the police that apply to persons staying in church premises, as to others. It is the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) and the Immigration Board (UNE) that assess whether someone has the right to asylum and make decisions in individual cases. Persons whose application for asylum has been refused have a duty to leave the country within an exit deadline that follows from the decision. They can also receive financial support to travel home themselves and establish themselves in their home country through the assisted return scheme. The assessments of the immigration authorities are independent, and neither the minister nor the ministry has the authority to enter into individual cases. Photo: Olav Røli / news – A thousand-year-long tradition – Church asylum is a thousand-year-long tradition where people in need seek a sacred space for protection, says Jan Christian Kielland, director of the Norwegian Church. During the Balkan war in the 1990s, church asylums were particularly widely used in Norway. Also in recent times, several have sought asylum in churches to avoid being thrown out of the country. It is because the police have not taken people out of church asylums. Now the Church of Norway is worried that the government will change the practice, so that the police can use force – also in the church. Harout Jakarian says it will be tough to live in the church. – I want to work, I’m bad at it. I can’t do anything here. Photo: Olav Røli Will prevent church asylum In April this year, the government announced that they did not want any more cases of church asylum. At the end of last year, SV and the government agreed to grant residence permits to everyone who had received church asylum for more than five years. Thus, the few who lived in churches in Norway could move out and settle freely in the country. As far as the government and the Church of Norway know, there was no one in church asylum in Norway after that. In the letter from April this year, the government states that those who seek asylum in churches will no longer receive special treatment. “This means that if new cases of church asylum should arise, the cases must be resolved in line with the police’s normal routines”, writes the government. “In the extreme, the police will be able to use force, but this must be avoided as far as possible.” Don’t know what to do In Bømlo, the married couple Tamar and Harout Jakarian are afraid that the police will take them out by force. Nevertheless, they hope that the church is safe. – But I can’t work. I am also not entitled to health care. It is very difficult, says the couple. Now they are clinging to a last hope that UDI and UNE will turn around. – If not, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know, says Harout Jakarian.
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Syrian Tamar and Harout can be thrown out of the church by force – news Vestland
