Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06OSLO13
2006-01-04 15:48:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Oslo
Cable title:  

CAMEL REARING AS NORWAY'S NEW INTEGRATION TOOL?

Tags:  PREF EAGR PGOV NO 
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UNCLAS OSLO 000013 

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF EAGR PGOV NO
SUBJECT: CAMEL REARING AS NORWAY'S NEW INTEGRATION TOOL?

UNCLAS OSLO 000013

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF EAGR PGOV NO
SUBJECT: CAMEL REARING AS NORWAY'S NEW INTEGRATION TOOL?


1. On January 4, Norway's newspaper readers woke to find a
story about the local community of Loeten in southeastern
Norway which has asked for government support to help
establish a local camel rearing industry. Loeten has several
immigrants of East African origin (mostly Somali refugees)
who are having difficulty integrating into Norwegian society
and finding work. According to Wenche Irene Stenseth,
settlement officer for refugees in Loeten, the point behind
the project is to create jobs that provide refugees with
self-respect and pride by focusing on their own knowledge and
interest. The Loeten community is asking the central
government for a grant of about USD 150 thousand (NOK 1
million) to start an initial production of camel products
(milk, meat, wool, leather) with 20 imported animals.
Stenseth points out that camel milk has an especially low
lactose content and also contains insulin, and she hopes that
the Loeten idea can generate interest elsewhere in Norway.


2. The newspapers report that several of the immigrants in
Loeten are enthusiastic about the idea, despite the raised
eyebrows of some in the local community, an agricultural area
with significant dairy and horse farms. Norway's food and
animal inspection service (Mattilsynet) is also highly
skeptical. Mattilsynet's regional director Eivind Liven
points out to the press that the importation of exotic
animals is forbidden in Norway, and that Mattilsynet would
need to see a very special requirement before it would allow
an exception to the rule, and allow camels to be imported to
Norway as domestic animals.


3. Comment: While the fun factor of the Loeten community's
initiative is high, it does underline just how difficult
Norway finds it to integrate asylum seekers and refugees into
Norwegian society. Norway is extremely homogenous, and the
government's nationwide resettlement distribution policy
means that many immigrants find themselves stuck in small
communities with no reasonable prospects for integration into
tightly knit, closed societies. Loeten's out of the box
thinking may come to nothing, but this small community is at
least seeking a creative solution to integration at the local
level, even as the Norwegian government struggles to come to
terms with the challenges posed by integration nationally.

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