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Since January, the Norwegian government has denied entry to nearly all EU/EEA and other foreign citizens. They claim that this is necessary to prevent new infections. Yet they also deny entry to people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19. So something else is at stake. (1)
Norway wants to reduce international travel and has strict rules for obligatory testing and quarantine. This is understandable and justifiable (even though the lack of restrictions on domestic travel is puzzling). But the problem is not quarantine rules; it's discrimination. (2)
The problem is, as I wrote before, that almost all non-citizens / non-residents are denied entry. They are not allowed in EVEN IF they test and quarantine; not even when vaccinated. These are not tourists. They are workers, family members, partners. (3) https://twitter.com/AikeRots/status/1364859547219877889
Absurdly, Norway even refuses entry to newly hired employees of Norwegian universities. I would love to hear what the @EU_Commission thinks about this. To me, it seems like a clear violation of the right of the free movement of workers within the EEA. (4) https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=457#:~:text=Free%20movement%20of%20workers%20is,job%20in%20another%20EU%20country
I've previously tweeted about the problem in Norwegian academia that new researchers cannot come. @AvisenKhrono wrote about it; @Henrikasheim said he would try to find a solution (but hasn't). These new employees are discriminated based on nationality. (5) https://khrono.no/han-skulle-flytte-til-norge-for-en-trearig-forskerjobb-na-nektes-han-innreise/565071
It's not only about employees but also about family and partners. Thousands of people in Norway - Norwegian citizens as well as non-citizen residents - have partners, parents, and other family members abroad. They are denied the right to be with their loved ones indefinitely. (6)
Needless to say, this lack of perspective has led to much human suffering and mental health crises. Sadly, the suffering of these people is no priority for the minister of health, @BentHHoyre. (For more information about this, follow @slippossinn). (7) https://twitter.com/slippossinn/status/1372634832652660738
The underlying assumption seems to be that foreign partners, parents, and employees are intrinsically dangerous; that they will not test and quarantine properly, because they are not Norwegian and, therefore, not trustworthy. Xenophobia is a core part of the state apparatus. (8)
Not surprising. For months, media have been bombarding the public with sensationalist stories of migrants bringing waves of infection into the country. We recently wrote an essay about this. Sadly, even the mayor of Oslo has contributed to this frame. (9) https://www.utrop.no/plenum/ytringer/251545/
It appears that closing borders is no longer seen as a necessary evil; a means to an end. It has become an end in itself; sacred and non-negotiable. Critics are accused of being unpatriotic or downplaying the risk of Covid-19. Open borders are framed as unnecessary luxury. (10)
The tragic consequence: a Minister of Justice who declares EU/EEA treaties irrelevant; who announces that borders will remain closed "for a very long time"; who states that seasonal workers (berry pickers) are more important than family reunification. (11) https://www.tv2.no/nyheter/13928361/?fbclid=IwAR09-ieoQ2vA8u8N585cvBiaUTcx8z_llXXc7PVYVkVP7959QQlpwvtFbj4
She states that borders must be closed for non-citizens (except berry pickers!) for a long time, as we must prioritise "our own children and youth". The good old rhetoric device of the false dichotomy: "This is for our children, how dare you oppose?" Populism at its ugliest. (12)
Two last points. First, I realise that Norway is by no means the only country that has seen an increase in xenophobia and nationalism in public discourse and state policy. It's a global problem. This pandemic seems to bring out the worst in societies. (13) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01419870.2020.1851382
That said, as a long-term resident in Norway - I've lived here for most of my adult life - I am most familiar with the situation here. And I am sad and concerned about this unprecedented wave of state-sanctioned xenophobia and lack of respect for international treaties. (14)
Second: I didn't write this thread - or any of the previous threads on this topic - for fun. I am not a lawyer or politician. I am just a scholar who wants to tweet about things like sacred trees and whale gods and temples; not about EU worker rights or Covid-19 or borders. (15)
But I am also a European, and a migrant, and I am worried. Worried about the distrust, the rhetoric, the consequences for academia and families. So I write, because there is not much else I can do. And I hope some lawyers and politicians will read this and take it further. (16)
