NORWEGIAN IRANIANS: A MODEL IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 OSLO 000384

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC CVIS IR KCRM NO PINR PTER
SUBJECT: NORWEGIAN IRANIANS: A MODEL IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Iranian immigrants in Norway are some of
the country's most successful and best-integrated non-Western
minorities. There are currently over 15,000 first and second
generation Iranians in Norway, making them the tenth largest
immigrant group. The community is highly educated, secular,
and has many examples of successful and prominent individuals
but is split into various segments and does not possess a
coherent identity. Any risk of radicalization is considered
to be minimal, although there are indications that the
Iranian embassy in Oslo has significant negative influence on
other Muslim immigrant communities. END SUMMARY.

WHO ARE THEY AND WHERE ARE THEY FROM?
--------------


2. (U) Norway's 15,000-strong Iranian population is one of
its longest-resident non-Western immigrant populations, the
majority arriving in Norway over 10 years ago. The first
wave fled from the Islamic Revolution, followed by those
fleeing the Iran-Iraq War. Today the vast majority of
immigrants are either family reunifications or refugees. The
Iranian-Norwegian population is growing quickly, mostly in
the form of a large number of second generation immigrants
born in Norway, although a steady flow of asylum seekers and
family members continues to arrive from Iran every year. It
is estimated that 20-30% of Iranians in Norway are of Kurdish
descent. There are also small numbers of Zoroastrians and
Baha'i. Approximately 70% of Iranians have Norwegian
citizenship.


3. (U) Norwegian Iranian society is composed of several
disparate groups including those who fled the Islamic
Revolution, Kurds, other minority groups, members of the
People's Mujahadeen and traditional economic migrants. One
rough way of looking at these groups is to characterize
Iranian immigrants either as those who retain some ties to
Iran (primarily economic immigrants),those who oppose the
current government of Iran (members of the People's
Mujahadeen) and those who have completely adopted a new
identity as a Norwegian-Iranian and become secular (more
established immigrants, many refugees from the Shah's
regime.)


4. (U) Having left the Islamic Republic for Scandinavia, the
majority of Iranians resident here are of the more educated,
secular variety. Their families are well-off with modern,
largely Western value systems. They are also less interested
in events in Iran than other groups.


5. (U) A small but vocal element in the Norwegian Iranian
community are the approximately 2,000 Iranians who are either
members of the People's Mujahadeen or MEK or are sympathetic.
This group is perhaps the most organized of all of the
Norwegian Iranian subgroups and they are active in protesting
against the government of Iran. They have been successful in
engaging several prominent Norwegian politicians to champion
the cause of the residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq.


6. (U) An additional category of Iranian immigrant can be
described as those who left Iran to escape the Iran-Iraq War
or for economic reasons. This group still retains at least a
cordial relationship with the Iranian government, as they may
occasionally require consular assistance from its embassy.
Because these Iranians sometimes travel back to their home
country, many are cautious of contact with the embassy due to
threat of arrest or harassment by Iranian authorities when
they return to Iran.


7. (U) As would be expected, the various groups of Iranians
are not fond of each other and do not intermingle, despite
their common cultural background. Differences in politics and
religion prevent the Iranian community from acting
cohesively. The non-religious individuals (who are quite
numerous) have little in common with their more conservative
and religiously observant counterparts, and vice versa.

Education as an Indicator of Integration
--------------


8. (U) The Iranian community is a very successful and highly
integrated group in Norway. Most Iranian-Norwegians have
lived here for 15-20 years or longer and can be said to
contribute more to the fabric of Norwegian society than
Norwegian immigrant society. There are numerous examples of
high-profile, successful individuals, and many have married
Norwegians and others outside of their nationality.

OSLO 00000384 002 OF 003




9. (U) Iranians are some of Norway's most educated
immigrants. A remarkably low 16% have just a primary school
education or less (including those with no education at all),
making it the lowest of any immigrant group. Only the
Chileans have a similarly low percentage of those with such a
minimal education, at 18%. The average across all immigrants
is over 30%. Turks, for example, have a staggering 51%
getting by with only a primary school education or less.


10. (U) University education is very high among Iranians,
with an average of 43.5% either currently in school or having
already attained a university degree (including those with a
degree from Iran). This percentage dwarfs that of all other
immigrant communities with the exception of the Chinese, who
post numbers above 50%. The total immigrant average is only
around 26%.


11. (U) Second generation Iranians in Norway do even better,
though curiously, not as well as other second generation
immigrants. Thirty-two percent of second generation 19-24
year old Iranian-Norwegians are enrolled in university;
higher than the first generation, who, at 25.2%, are around
seven points above the average of 18.3%, but slightly lower
than the 34.7% total immigrant average for second generation
individuals. The point here is that, although Iranians do
improve their education numbers, they have not quite improved
at the same rate as other groups have.

Employment as an Indicator of Integration
--------------


12. (U) Employment is an area where Iranians might be
described as under-performing, even if only slightly. With
58.3% of first generation individuals aged 15-74 years
employed, they post higher numbers than any other immigrants
from Muslim countries, yet compared to the total immigrant
average of 63.3%, they are relatively unimpressive. It is
worth noting that a much higher percentage of Iranian women
are employed than any other immigrants from a Muslim
background, with 54% working. For comparison, employment
among Turkish, Pakistani, and Somali women is much lower,
with only 42%, 31%, and 24% in jobs, respectively. Iranian
women are even doing relatively well among all female
immigrants, whose average is only a slightly higher 57%. The
women employed tend to earn among the highest salaries of
immigrant groups, ranking highest among Norwegian Muslim
populations.

Religion
--------------


13. (U) Immigrants from Iran are the least religious group of
any in Norway. When first and second generation Iranian
immigrants were asked if they still belonged to the religion
they were brought up with as children, only 50% answered
"yes," while the combined number for all other immigrants is
closer to 90%.


14. (U) Not surprisingly, the importance most Iranians grant
religion in their lives is correspondingly low. When asked
to rate this on a scale of 1 - 10 with "1" being "not
important at all" and "10" being "very important," the
Iranians' average score is around 3.9--again, the lowest of
any immigrant group. The total immigrant average is a much
higher 6.9. Forty percent of Iranians actually answered this
question with a "1," meaning religion is not at all important
to them. This is telling, as it reveals that not only have
most Iranians left the religion in which they were raised
(Islam),but that they have also not converted to another;
religion simply is not a part of their lives.


Is Radicalization a Risk?
--------------


15. (U) Reflecting their overall successful integration into
Norwegian society, there appears to be very little risk of
radicalization among most Iranian immigrants. There are
several possible trouble spots worth mentioning. The first
is discrimination, which is unusually high for such a
successful and well-integrated population. When asked if
they have experienced discrimination of any kind and, if so,
how many instances, only 36.3% say they have encountered none
at all. The average across all immigrants is 55.6%. Only
the Somalis (who have been the subject of considerable

OSLO 00000384 003.2 OF 003


negative media attention and are considered by many to be an
at-risk community) say they have experienced more
discrimination, with only 33.9% reporting that they have had
no problems with discrimination. Perhaps more worrisome,
Iranians have the highest percentage of individuals of any
immigrant group that say they have experienced discrimination
in "four areas or more," at 4.1%. Here, 3.6% of Somalis say
the same, while the total immigrant average is a much lower
1.6%. Discrimination can be considered the main cause for
concern over radicalization (even if mild) for the Iranian
community.


16. (U) The second possible area of concern is the close
contact some members of the community maintain with the
Iranian government. There is no evidence yet of this being
any major cause for alarm, although it could potentially
become one in the future. This is particularly so if the
individuals who have close contact with conservative elements
in Iran are also the same individuals who say they experience
higher instances of discrimination. If there were a
simultaneous rise in discrimination and an increase in the
number of visits to (or contact with) Iran, this could point
to a greater risk of radicalization among the Iranian
community.

Activities of the Iranian Embassy
--------------


17. (SBU) Post has been told that the Iranian embassy
observes individuals in the secular group, especially those
who publicly protest Iranian activities (human rights abuses,
policy, etc.). The Iranian embassy is also active in
tracking those who are members of the People's Mujahadeen.
Most of these individuals are unable to return to Iran for
fear of imprisonment and/or death threats. The Norwegian
government has told these individuals to be cautious even if
traveling near the Turkish-Iranian border.


18. (SBU) Mazyar Keshvari, a prominent Iranian-Norwegian
politician in the conservative Progress Party, confirmed this
and believes that the Iranian embassy in Oslo carries out
significant outreach activities to Norway's Muslim
immigrants, funding mosques and encouraging more conservative
elements in Islam. Keshvari believes Iranians here are in
little or no danger of being influenced by the embassy's
efforts because most are too educated, secular, and
integrated to be attracted to a conservative Islamic message.
There is an Iranian mosque in Oslo which, Keshvari says, the
Islamic Republic's embassy uses as a tool to exert some
amount of influence on the observant Iranian Muslims here, as
well as any other nationalities that also happen to attend.
Keshvari (who, it should be noted again, is a regular and
vocal critic of Iran) showed particular concern about the
Iranian embassy's activities and influence in Norway and was
alarmed that the Norwegian government tolerates their actions.


19. (SBU) Keshvari also mentioned his suspicion that the
Iranian government uses exchange student visas to send
intelligence agents to Norway. These people allegedly
monitor the Norwegian-Iranian population and at times use
Norway as a sort of a safe house useful for raising money and
for planning operations in other parts of the world.
Keshvari did not believe that the Norwegian police were
willing, or perhaps were not able to effectively monitor
these individuals.

COMMENT
--------------


20. (SBU) Iranians are arguably Norway's most successful
group of immigrants and certainly the most successful among
those with Muslim backgrounds. Despite high discrimination,
Iranian-Norwegians have managed to become educated,
reasonably well-employed, and quite well-integrated.
Norwegian-Iranians appear to be a population that is not
prone to radicalize, but which could serve as a model for
future immigrant integration. Keshvari's description of the
Iranian embassy's efforts to negatively influence the Muslim
community in Norway seems--although potentially troublesome
for other Muslim immigrants--unlikely to affect Iranians
themselves.
WHITNEY