Norway Offers Refugees Free Flights, Thousands Of Dollars To Leave Country

Norway  is reportedly offering asylum seekers thousands of dollars to leave the country as the global refugee crisis intensifies, and hundreds of people have taken the government up on its offer.

A family with two children is eligible for up to 80,000 kroner ($A16,000) and free flights home, the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration told The Local. More than 900 people reportedly have accepted.

Refugees and migrants who’ve crossed the Russia-Norway border carry bags of clothes from a revamped World War II bunker called Fjellhallen, used by the local authorities as a transit centre. Picture: Daniel Leal-Olivas/i-Images

“[Refugees] thought that when they came to Norway they would get protection rather quickly,” the head of The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration’s return unit told local broadcaster NRK, The Local adds.

Instead, applications for family reunification can often take years, and an increasing number of refugees fleeing conflict in the Middle East and Africa don’t want to wait.
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A Middle-Eastern family crosses the Russian border into Norway along with bicycles. The border crossing has received a steady flow of refugees and migrants in past months. Picture: Daniel Leal-Olivas/i-ImagesSource:News Corp Australia

“Earlier this year, the number [of applications] was an average of 100 per month. In October, there were 150 and in November there were 230 applications,” the International Organisation for Migration spokesman Joost van der Aalst told NRK,The Local reports.

Housing-related challenges in Norway are also discouraging refugees from staying, as many find themselves in remote communities where work is difficult to procure.