This is how the liberal leader defends his support for the Human Rights Service

The government’s support for the Human Rights Service is justified by integration. The Minister of Integration, Guri Melby, flatly rejects that the organization contributes something positive.

Guri Melby is not only the leader of the Liberal Party and the Minister of Education. She is also the government’s minister of integration. Post the interview as the last.

The backdrop is an explosive rise in unemployment among immigrants as a result of the corona pandemic. The Minister of Integration describes it as extreme.

– It is quite classic that jobs with low proficiency requirements come first, and then many with an immigrant background come first in line.

Melby’s solution is better and more suited to teaching.

This is how he defends the support of HRS

The interview will be about large sums and long lines, but as usual, 1.8 million escape attention.

Aftenposten asks about the government’s millionaire support for the Human Rights Service (HRS).

The support comes from the budget of the Ministry of Justice. However, it is justified because it should contribute to a better understanding of immigration and the integration of the population.

The controversial organization runs the critical blog of Islam Rights.no.

“There is not a single individual in the Liberal Party in the entire country who believes that the Human Rights Service should receive money. Not before, now, not after,” Abid Raja told Aftenposten last year. Raja has now been elected deputy leader of the Liberal Party.

One year later, the FRP is out of government. Support is still in the government’s recent budget proposal for 2021.

Why?

Melby points out that the support will be maintained as a result of an agreement that the four bourgeois parties signed in December 2018. At that time, the FRP negotiated budget support in exchange for the Liberal Party receiving 16.7 million for various organizations .

– The amount we spend on volunteering in integration is very large, now it is 153.7 million crowns, says Melby.

When the deal was presented after demanding budget rounds in 2018, there was no doubt that it would be valid for several years.

– There is no doubt that it is very important to use civil society as an active participant in integration work. So I don’t think HRS brings you anything positive. It is a case that we have accepted, but we are not happy.

– Wouldn’t it have been easier for the Liberal Party if the support came after the negotiations in the Storting with the Frp?

– Tactically speaking, I had it. But the sum could perhaps have been even higher. And the reality would be exactly the same. For my part, the money for volunteering on the integration budget is much more important than the 1.8 million that go to HRS.

Explosive unemployment among immigrants

HRS rarely spreads good news about integration.

But for many years it has been on the right track. Slowly but surely, the proportion of immigrants who work has increased.

Then the coronavirus arrived in Norway. Unemployment skyrocketed. Immigrants are the most affected. It comes from the latest grim unemployment figures released by Statistics Norway:

13.7 percent of immigrants were unemployed in the second quarter of this year. The corresponding figure for the general population was 4.9%.

Thus, in one year, unemployment among immigrants has increased by 8.5 percentage points, compared to 3.4 percentage points among the general population.

In the budget proposal, the vulnerable position of immigrants in the labor market is explained by lack of formal education, weak Norwegian skills, and short tenure in working life.

This becomes a problem especially when there is a tighter job market as a result of the pandemic.

Suggest less for integration next year

Still: the proposed integration budget for 2021 is NOK 9.1 billion, a decrease of 20 percent from the previous year.

The decline is mainly due to the fact that there are fewer refugees to settle in the municipalities. At the same time, the government has reduced the subsidies that municipalities receive to pay them off.

Melby prefers to talk about the political measures he takes on the budget. She estimates these at around 130 million (see facts).

Among the innovations this year are 25 million to test a scrapping card scheme for immigrants who need additional training in the Norwegian language. This is an outline outside of the required introductory program.

The idea is for immigrants in need to get coupons or clipped cards to buy Norwegian courses from private providers.

– We need a wider range of offers than exists today.

– If the integration policy works, it is probably very profitable for society to invest in it. Why spend 25 million on this and not 250 million?

– It may well be the case. But we think it is a good idea to test a little first, to see if it has a good effect before implementing it. But the idea has the potential to get much bigger.

– Crisis measures have already been initiated

Aftenposten asks the question more generally: Why doesn’t violent unemployment among immigrants lead to greater control over the 2021 budget?

The liberal leader recalls the integration crisis package of 456 million. It was adopted when the 2020 budget was revised this spring. Among other things, the period for refugees and immigrants to receive Norwegian education and social studies was extended by six months.

– Then we have already started the crisis measures.

– Are you not afraid that high unemployment among immigrants will stabilize?

– Yes, and that’s why we focus a lot on competition. Many immigrants have low formal competence and therefore a weak connection to working life.

– But is there no need for more control over the 2021 budget than 130 million?

– We have not considered it that way. Because the measures we made in the review will also take effect in 2021. If we see that there is a need for more, then the government has not said that there will be no new crisis packages.

Melby doesn’t think there is much to be gained by spending more money.

– Because we also have to ensure quality. And that is what we are doing now with the integration law. In reality, it is an important reform of the school offer that we offer to people of immigrant origin. The most important thing for the effect is not how much money you invest in a project, what is important is the long-term investments over time.

Will make stricter demands

This week, the government’s proposal for a new integration law was debated in the Storting.

The law regulates the rights and obligations of newly arrived refugees and immigrants, including the type of Norwegian education and social studies they must receive.

The goal is to make this teaching better suited to the individual.

The refugees are illiterate and highly educated academics. Melby wants to discriminate more and make stricter demands.

Among other things, the Government will legislate that those who teach Norwegian in accordance with the Integration Act must have the relevant professional and pedagogical competence. This must correspond to 30 credits in the Norwegian as a second language subject.

At the same time, it should be legislated that refugees must meet a minimum standard in Norwegian.