4,112

3,191

4,182

3,266

2,939

2,164

0.42%

Not Available

143

330

229

10

320

150

150

1

1

3,607

5,241

4,630

2,865

2,515

2,330

4,078

5,940

5,450

5,365

4,450

4,045

41.4%

320

495

1,975

125

350

360

385

525

465

250

3,360

2,305

3,230

5,330

5,455

3,720

3,180

2,760

3,874

3,649

33.8%

34%

74

72

557,666

5,500,000

5,400,000

5,211,000

5,000,000

1,012,404

852,238

867,765

741,800

694,500

642,000

642,000

18.15%

15.72%

14.2%

13.8%

123,981

86,449

46,042

49,653

53,882

57,026

59,236

59,452

50,389

46,106

11.29

9.14

8.76

5,913

5,259

3,594

11,689

10,973

18,309

50.5

1,621

3,824

2,809

3,282

3,251

1,997

$ 97,307,000

$ 100,819,000

$ 760,000,000

$ 743,000,000

$ 4,045,000,000

%

4,753

4,756

1 (Very high)

Unsanitary/inadequate detention conditions

Use of solitary confinement

Important reforms are due to be implemented at Norway’s Trandum Detention Centre, raising hopes for improved treatment of people in immigration procedures in the country, according to the 2022 Annual Report of Trandum’s independent oversight board. Among the proposed reforms are several harm-reducing proposals identified by the Global Detention Project in our 2018 report commissioned by the Norwegian Red Cross. These include reducing the amount of time that detainees are locked up in cells and transferring healthcare services from a private company to the Norwegian Public Health Service. Trandum Detention Centre has faced a host of criticisms, particularly for its punitive and restrictive detention regime, which treats detainees as criminals, even though they are not serving criminal sentences. In 2015, for example, Norway’s Parliamentary Ombudsman, which is mandated to visit all places of detention in the country under its remit as the country’s National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), concluded that the facility was placing an “excessive attention to control and security at the expense of the individual detainee’s integrity,” employing the “same security procedures as the correctional services.” In 2018, the Norwegian Red Cross commissioned the GDP to produce a comparative assessment of detention conditions and operations between Norway and other European countries in order to identify targets for reforms at Trandum. The resultant report, “Harm Reduction in Immigration Detention,” compared detention centres in Norway, France, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland. It found that the carceral model adopted by Trandum was more extreme than that adopted by centres elsewhere in Europe, and proposed key reforms (both for Trandum and other facilities) including shedding carceral elements, including regime, internal layout, and design; increasing detainees’ freedom of movement; and ensuring detainees can easily make and receive calls and have access to the internet. Many of these suggestions were subsequently highlighted by the Norwegian Red Cross in a statement urging Norway’s authorities to reform its immigration detention system. According to Trandum’s Supervisory Board, in 2022 some of these recommendations were finally initiated as "immediate measures". Following instruction from the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the amount of time for which detainees can be locked in their cells is to be reduced, and they are also to have increased access to outdoor space. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security has also instructed that detainees are given increased opportunities to communicate with the outside world, and that by June 2023, health care provision within the centre is to be provided by Norwegian public health services (rather than private company) and that detainees face no limitations in accessing care. However, the Supervisory Board has criticised the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Management for the slow pace at which these reforms are being implemented. For example, health care reorganisation is now only set to be completed by January 2024 - seven months later than the original June 2023 deadline. The Board is also critical of the Norwegian Police Directorate and Police Immigration Unit for failing to quickly introduce the new measures. As of January 2023, detainees' ability to communicate with the outside world has not yet been increased, and the length of time for which detainees are locked up has so far only marginally decreased (contrary to instructions from the Ministry, they are still locked up twice a day). The Global Detention Project is also concerned that the Ministry of Justice and Public Security is currently considering transferring responsibility for the centre from the National Police Directorate to the Directorate of Norwegian Correctional Services. Such a development runs counter to our recommendation that the management of the centre be shifted from a security to a social welfare institution. Failure to do so could be a critical barrier to further reforms and hinder efforts to limit or end the use of immigration detention in the country.

The supervisory board of Norway’s Trandum Detention Centre, in its annual report about operations at the facility, expressed concern about the implementation of certain COVID-19 measures. Of particular concern are isolation measures imposed on all newly arriving detainees, who are required to quarantine for 10 days upon arrival. During this period, they are locked in their rooms and unable to interact with others. Food is provided four times a day, and detainees are allowed outside for 1.5 hours a day--the same amount of time provided to non-quarantining detainees. During their time outdoors, they may speak to others at a distance and they are encouraged to wear masks. According to the supervisory board, the isolation measure is “disproportionate” and the legal basis for the practice is “questionable.” They pointed out that detainees appear to have no ability to legally challenge their isolation. The board urged the facility to reassess its quarantine policy and investigate increased testing to reduce detainees’ isolation time. They pointed to the Norwegian National Human Rights Institution (NIM) which, in November 2020, affirmed that isolation in prison for the purposes of quarantine has a significantly different impact than “stay at home” orders and should be assessed in light of this distinction. The Trandum supervisory board urged similar consideration for isolation in immigration detention. The board also noted a need to improve health services at the centre--both in terms of access and quality of care provided; to reduce the penal nature of the facility; and to ensure that detainees are provided with more varied, and culturally appropriate, food. As the Global Detention Project highlighted in its 2019 report, “Harm Reduction in Immigration Detention,” these concerns have been raised by observers for years. Recently, in December 2020, Norwegian media reported the case of an Ethiopian woman suffering from a number of health problems who was detained at Trandum from 16 August - 11 December 2020. According to the County Governor, her medical conditions significantly worsened because she was not provided with adequate medical care during her time in the facility. With the number of detainees low in 2020 (on 8 September, 36 detainees were recorded in the facility)--and an expectation that numbers will remain low in 2021--the board held that now is an “opportune time for establishing new routines.”

The Norwegian Red Cross has reported that since March, it has been unable to access Norway’s sole long-term detention facility, the Trandum Detention Centre. Although the organisation has remained in close contact with the facility’s staff during the pandemic, it has been unable to physically enter the facility and its volunteers have only been able to speak with two detainees via video call. The organisation has frequently raised the need for access with the immigration police, but as of 29 September, access continued to be denied. Prior to the pandemic, the Red Cross ran an active volunteer visitor programme in the facility providing support and assistance to detainees. As of 8 September, there were 36 detainees in Norway’s Trandum detention facility—three of whom are women—and no detainees have been held in the facility’s separate family unit since March. One Red Cross representative told the GDP that because as the numbers of detainees at the Trandum have fallen since the onset of the pandemic, this has presented new opportunities for the humanitarian group to dialogue with officials about implementing new development projects at the centre. Among the items they have proposed has been boosting “internet access through digital equipment procured by the Red Cross.” As the GDP previously reported on this platform (see 24 July update), some people have been released from detention due to the pandemic. According to the Norwegian Red Cross, although the exact number who were released remains unclear, it is generally thought that persons who were released (mainly from Ethiopia and Iraq) were selected because they had a network/family in the country who could provide them with accommodation. Those who were released have been required to report regularly to immigration police.

According to the Norwegian Parliamentary Ombudsperson (Sivilombudsmannen), responding to the Global Detention Project’s Covid-19 survey, Norwegian authorities did not impose a moratorium on new immigration detention orders due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the National Police Immigration Service (NPIS) limited the number of immigration detention orders due to the reduced capacity at the police immigration detention centre, mainly caused by the implementation of infection control measures and the cancellation of scheduled returns and deportations. They also reported that the capacity of the immigration detention centre (presumably the Trandum facility near Oslo international airport, Norway’s only dedicated immigration detention centre) has been increased, and each case is therefore assessed individually according to specific criteria in order to decide if a migrant is to be placed in detention or not. The Ombudsperson confirmed that persons have been released from immigration detention due to the pandemic, as mentioned in previous updates (see 25 April Norway update on this platform). However, no generalised criteria have been established and cases are assessed individually to determine if the legal conditions are still in place for keeping a person in detention pursuant to the Immigration Act. For instance, in some instances, decisions to release immigration detainees were made in order to avoid exceeding the legal time frames for detention provided in the Immigration Act. These cases arose due to flight cancellations and general travel restrictions due to Covid-19. Upon release, immigration detainees are checked for any Covid-19 symptoms. No further measures are taken apart from encouraging released detainees to follow infection control advice and recommendations provided by the Norwegian government. Within immigration detention, all new arrivals are tested for the disease. Detainees are first placed in a separate quarantine section of the centre, in which they remain until they have been tested and receive a negative result (see 25 April Norway update on this platform). According to NPIS, testing takes place upon arrival and results are normally provided within 24 hours. Non-nationals transferred to the immigration detention centre directly from another prison or detention facility who are free of any Covid-19 related symptoms are not tested. So far, the Ombudsperson reported that no detainees have tested positive at the imigration detention centre. The majority of accompanied forcible returns have been halted temporarily due to challenges caused by the pandemic, such as closed borders, flight cancellations, issues with transit countries, and safety of the accompanying personnel. A small number of unaccompanied forcible returns were still carried out; however, the amount of rescheduled and cancelled flights has also made these difficult to conduct. There is no list of “approved” countries for deportation but rather continuous assessments are conducted based on developments in the countries. Generally however, countries to which deportation flights were arranged had been determined, following a risk assessment, to be safe for a migrant to travel unaccompanied and where the flight itinerary avoided any transit issues. NPIS has carried out a very limited number of accompanied forcible returns in certain high priority areas. The Ombudsperson did not provide further details in this regard. In response to the pandemic, Norway adopted several new policies and regulations for immigration and border control. The Ombudsperson indicated that these have mostly consisted of interim acts, regulations and circulars relating to entry restrictions for non-nationals out of concern for public health. For example, limitations to the right of entry of non-nationals who would otherwise be legally entitled to enter Norway under the Immigration Act, when this is necessary to safeguard public health in connection with the outbreak of Covid-19; as well as exemptions from these restrictions for certain groups of non-nationals, including those seeking asylum. As regards border control measures, temporary entry and exit controls have been introduced at the internal Schengen border.

The Trandum National Police Immigration Detention Centre, Norway’s only immigration detention facility which has a capacity of 220, had a population of 50 detainees as of 1 April, according to a communication from the Norwegian Red Cross (NRC) to the Global Detention Project (GDP). A series of measures have been implemented to avoid the spread of Covid-19 within the facility: - Only lawyers are allowed into the facility while visits by Norwegian Red Cross volunteers and individuals have been suspended. - Staff are investigating enabling videoconferences for detainees with family members, although this has not yet been put in place. - The frequency of disinfection and cleaning has been increased. The facility is now cleaned several times a day. - A separate unit has been dedicated to managing suspected or confirmed Covid-19 cases. Infected persons will be placed in this separate unit, isolated from others. The Norwegian Red Cross reported that some detainees had been released, but it was unclear how many. Those released include people deemed to not be a flight risk as well as people with a permanent and/or official address in Norway (for instance, reception centres for asylum seekers or a family address). On 24 April, two Dublin cases were released due to border closures and as the police cannot detain asylum seekers for more than six weeks after the recipient country accepts responsibility. It was expected that three others would soon be released. On 16 March, the country released 194 prisoners to avoid the spread of Covid-19 within its prisons. However, on 14 April, four inmates in the Bastøy Prison in Oslo tested positive for the disease. The Norwegian Correctional Service stated that 10 of their employees nationwide have been affected by the virus, but have not specified where in the country the employees work. As in other Scandinavian countries, the Covid-19 pandemic appears to be taking a disproportionate toll on immigrant groups in Norway. Some 15 percent of residents in Norway were born abroad but 25 percent of those that have tested positive for Covid-19 were foreign-born. Public health officials and researchers have said that immigrant communities tend to work in “high-contract jobs - healthcare workers, drivers and cleaners, for example - with a higher risk of exposure.” Language barriers may also be at play as a lot of information was circulated through national health authorities’ websites that are unfamiliar to many people in immigrant communities. On 21 April 2020, the National Centre for Multicultural Education (NAFO) published an online resource with information on Covid-19 in several languages, as well as various online resources for minority language learners.

A number of individuals have been released from immigration detention as a result of measures implemented in response to the pandemic. As of early April, the Police Immigration Department had released 10 individuals as deportations became impossible to undertake. Those released are required to remain in a stated location, either a private address or asylum reception centre. Arriving asylum seekers are to be quarantined for 14 days at the Rade arrival centre before they can be transferred to other reception centres. The Norwegian Correctional Service had released by early April nearly 200 prisoners in order to reduce prison populations. As of 7 April 2020, seven members of staff of the correctional service and two prisoners serving sentences in the community had tested positive for Covid-19.

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