– We can receive 50 from Moria only – NRK Vestland

While the Moria camp is on fire, the government says it will host 50 people in Norway.

The Bergen city council reacts to this.

– It’s downright embarrassing that we saw the 50-person limit when there are 13,000, possibly more, who are homeless, health-care and in an emergency situation, says Katrine Nødtvedt (MDG), Councilor for Culture, Diversity and Gender Equality .

The City Council further notes that several municipalities have said they are willing to accept more asylum seekers.

– Around 100 Norwegian municipalities have clearly and voluntarily expressed their willingness and ability to receive many more. Bergen was a prelude to welcoming 195 refugees in 2020 and has said it is positive to settle more, says Nødtvedt.

Will multiply the number by ten

The municipality of Bergen has hosted 63 people so far this year.

– There is a total cessation in the income of quota refugees and there are almost no asylum seekers. I can’t understand that they set the 50-person limit for Moria’s camp. We can receive 50 from Moria alone, says the councilor.

She believes the government should be able to reach ten times as many, 500 asylum seekers from Moria.

– It is not a high number, it can be received in a controlled and manageable way. Here it only depends on the will of the government.

– Do not report disasters

Nødtvedt calls the Greek refugee camp fire a presaged disaster, and I think the government is showing its true face in the way it has handled the case.

– They are not willing to help until it literally burns. It has our longstanding difficult conditions and actions by the Nazis, says an annoyed councilor.

– I do not understand how we can stay in our hands in such a situation and push other countries in front of us.

SV and Raudt are behind

The Bergen City Council decided this spring that the municipality “in light of the precarious situation in Greece is positive for settling families, especially vulnerable refugees and a greater number of unaccompanied children fleeing in Bergen” than 195.

SV has previously stated that the municipality should receive 100 additional asylum seekers from the camp and supports the proposal to the city council.

– So sorry. We will present a statement on this at the next town hall meeting and this time we hope to have the entire town council with us. This was a foretold disaster and Europe should be ashamed, says Mikkel Grüner, SV group leader in the city hall.

He also challenges Nødtvedt to speak to his city council colleagues at KrF and Venstre about what they think about how the government has handled the case.

Raudt also supports the city council’s demand.

– We think it is very good that something is finally happening on the government side, but it is overtime and too low a figure. We fully agree that Bergen has room for a good number of people and that Norway as a whole should host many more than 50, says Mailiss Solheim, leader of Raudt Bergen.