Norway: Krekar not to be deported

Krekar, a threat to national Norwegian security, is not being deported because he might face the death penalty in Iraq.

A few questions that come to mind:

Does this mean that Norway won't deport a serial killer who might face the death penalty back home? How far should a country take this "asylum" policy?

Didn't Krekar show that he was in no danger when he himself traveled back to Iraq? And how did he get back into Norway?

See my article: The case for asylum seekers

Norwegian authorities have begun forcibly deporting around 400 refugees from northern Iraq whose applications for asylum were rejected. Mullah Krekar, however, continues to remain in Norway until Iraq guarantees he won't be executed upon return.

Krekar, who came to Norway as a refugee in the early 1990s but repeatedly violated the terms of his asylum, faces deportation after a lengthy court process. The Norwegian government has ordered him sent out of the country, after determining that the former guerrilla leader in northern Iraq represents a threat to national security.

The Norwegian authorities, however, won't deport any persons who face a death penalty in their homeland. The authorities also want guarantees that Krekar will be treated in accordance with the European convention on human rights.

Negotiations between Norway and Iraq are being handled through the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, but a spokesman told newspaper Aftenposten on Wednesday that there's nothing new regarding Krekar's deportation.

Krekar, the former head of guerrilla group Ansar al-Islam in Iraq, has claimed all along that his life is in danger back in Iraq, even though he traveled back and forth several times on his own before the Norwegians charged him with asylum violations.

Around 400 other Iraqis who have lost their bid for asylum in Norway now face forced deportation. Three Iraqis were sent back to Erbil in northern Iraq last week, reported Aftenposten.. A few others have returned voluntarily.

The cases of another few hundred Iraqi Kurds are expected to be decided this fall, after they were granted residence permission for a year last autumn by the former leadership of Norway's immigration agency UDI. Among them was Krekar's mother-in-law.

The residence permission was granted in defiance of government directives, and led to a political controversy that resulted in a major shake-up at UDI and reprimands of UDI officials.

Source: Aftenposten (English)