More children and young people are being sent abroad against their will. Many high schools will now have their own counselors, who will spot coercion before it happens.
The short version
- More children and young people are being sent abroad against their will.
The summary is created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and quality guaranteed by Aftenposten journalists.
Summer vacation can be exciting for some children and young people. They are at risk of not being allowed to return to their home country from their parents' home country. Some may be forced into marriage or subjected to other forms of abuse.
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of children and young people belonging to minorities who suffer or fear being left abroad against their will.
Shows 2023 figures from the Integration and Diversity Directorate (IMDi) Diversity consultantsDiversity consultantsDiversity Consultants are deployed by IMDi in senior secondary schools, some secondary schools and adult education centers across the country. They follow young people who are or are at risk of being exposed to various forms of negative social control and honour-related violence. In schools in Norway and Special envoysSpecial envoysSpecial Envoys for Integration Issues are deployed to the embassies of Pakistan, Jordan, Turkey and Kenya to provide consular assistance to people subjected to various forms of negative social control and honour-related violence. The embassy in Kenya also covers Somalia. In four embassies.
– This is annoying. Young people see someone being left outside against their will. It can create fear, especially if they themselves face threats of eviction if they don't live the way their parents want, says IMDi director Leib Reber Mohn.
It affects many young people
In addition to IMDi numbers He has the national Efficiency team Against negative social control and honor-related violence in one year led to an increase in the number of cases. Only cases of involuntary stay abroad doubled.
In total, there are 2,281 cases from 2023 where these Norwegian authorities were in contact with people about various forms of negative social control and honour-related violence. Some cases may involve multiple family members.
Most of those affected are girls and young women. Many of them are under 18 years old.
Young people with family backgrounds from countries such as Syria, Pakistan, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq were particularly at risk.
Who was he going to marry?
– A family member says they have to travel because grandma is sick or they are going to a wedding. But then some young people felt like this was their own wedding that they were going to attend, and unfortunately, that's something we've seen in some cases, Reber-Mohn says.
A number of young men were sent Disciplinary institutionsDisciplinary institutionsSome may be sent to such institutions because parents are afraid to protect the children, believe that the young people have become too Norwegian or have problems with drugs or crime. In Somalia, the purpose of these centers is to discipline children. Religious education and family culture can be used as an argument to make parents believe that the centers are beneficial for their children..
The IMDi director encourages young people who are afraid of what might happen over summer break to talk to diversity counselors or other adults they trust.
– It is about women, youth and children who have been left behind by their husbands and families in their country of origin, a country from which they themselves fled. She says: It's outrageous.
Don't you dare ask for help
Numbers may vary somewhat from year to year.
From 2021 to 2023, there was a slight decrease in IMDi. But the manager points out that it is not great. It can also relate to minority counselors who are on leave or out due to illness. Or they were able to help the youth before it became dangerous.
What is clear is that the number of cases submitted by diversity consultants has increased since 2015. During these years, the number of consultants has also increased. The figures show in any case that these professionals in Norwegian schools had 147 cases in 2015 And 899 cases Nine years later.
Reaper Mohn also believes that there are very large dark figures.
Feelings of guilt, shame, pressure, violence, or the risk of being ostracized by the extended family can be reasons why a person does not dare to ask for help or tell about what is happening.
– I do not think that we are able to accept the fact that in Norway today there are people who are deprived of the basic rights and freedoms that the majority of us take for granted.
– They thought they had escaped to freedom
That's why IMDi's director is thrilled to have six new diversity advisors. There is an increase from 59 to 65.
They are deployed all over the country. Most of them are in high school.
But now many high schools also get a permanent diversity advisor:
Jordal, Holmea, Hokito and Linderud High Schools in Oslo and Marinelyst High School in Drammen. Five of them work in adult education in Oslo, Bærum, Bergen, Tromsø and Trøndelag.
– I have great confidence in this. It's important to get in early. High school is therefore an important arena.
Diversity consultants can help build trust between parents and the school to prevent negative social control and honor-related violence.
– In adult training, there are newcomers, especially women, who think they have escaped to freedom. But then some feel that lack of culture is still alive and well in Norway. This happens in the introductory program, in adult training, in meetings with environments that have the same ethnic background as themselves or in the extended family, says the IMDi director.
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