Norway’s SUCCESSFUL crackdown on illegal migrants as record numbers deported in 2016

The story comes from The Express.

Norway’s SUCCESSFUL crackdown on illegal migrants as record numbers deported in 2016

In September the Norwegian government announced plans to grant the police an additional £10million to forcibly remove failed asylum seekers by the end of 2017.

The grant came after police were tasked with removing 9,000 migrants by the end of 2016 as the country deals with the deepening crisis.

State Secretary Fabian Stang confirmed on Friday the number of deportations were at the highest number ever, up five per cent from figures in 2015, when the crisis began.

Mr Stang, who is secretary for Immigration Minister Sylvi Listhaug, told NRK: “This is a figure that shows that there have been many who do not have a legitimate claim to asylum who have stayed here and failed to leave the country, and that’s why it is necessary for the police to do the work they have done throughout the year.”

“It's always brutal when one is forced to use the police to get people to do what they are required to.”

Despite 2016 being hailed as a successful year, police failed to reach the government’s target of deporting 9,000 illegal immigrants by December 31 with just 7,312 being deported by the end of November.

More than a fourth of those who were forced to leave the country had criminal records and were from Poland, Romania and Lithuania.

Last year, the Police Immigration Service (PIS) expelled 7,825 migrants from the Scandinavian country.

At the time, PIS boss Kristin Kvigne said that the figure of 7,800 "is a high number and extremely demanding to accomplish" as officers have now been told to drastically increase the figure.

Announcing the additional funds for police, Ms Listhaug said: “Deportation is a highly prioritised task.

“In the state budget for 2017 we have proposed to use an additional 105 million [Norwegian Kroner] on deportation for 2017.

“We are maintaining a high figure, although the number of asylum seekers has decreased.”

It comes as Prime Minister Erna Solberg said she would not hire someone wearing a niqab as migrants should integrate into western societies.

Speaking ahead of an integration conference in October, she said: [They] would probably not get a job from me or many others if [they] were wearing a niqab.

“We believe we should see each other’s faces in the workplace.”