Norway Gets No Voluntary Departure Bonus Bids From Migrants on 1st Day

Asylum-seekers in Norway have not yet applied for a financial bonus promised by the country’s immigration authority in exchange for leaving voluntarily, the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) spokesman told Sputnik on Tuesday, a day after the program was launched.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Beginning from Monday, UDI promised extra 10,000 kroner ($1,215) on top of the already offered $2,431 to the first 500 asylum seekers who apply for voluntary return to their home countries. The program will run for six weeks. To qualify for the additional 10,000 kroner to cover travel costs, an asylum seeker must have arrived in Norway prior to April 1 and must not have overstayed their legal length of stay.

"No, it’s a bit early. The campaign started yesterday [Monday, April 25]," John Olav Kroken said, when asked whether UDI received any applicants so far.

The program of voluntary returns, funded by the state budget, started in Norway in 2002. In 2016, according to data provided to Sputnik by the UDI spokesperson, 565 people have returned under this scheme.

Norway’s Immigration Minister Sylvi Listhaug admitted earlier that encouraging more people to leave the country financially is "far cheaper" than putting them up in hostels or refugee camps.

In 2015, Norway received a record number 31,000 migrants coming from the Middle East and North Africa. That prompted the government to toughen national rules on migrants and asylum seekers and further encourage voluntary returns.