The first deportation of one of several Ethiopians detained at Trandum may take place on Wednesday.
29-year-old Mulualem from Ethiopia came to Norway as a 14-year-old and has lived in Modum in Buskerud. Family and friends call him Mulu. Since 22 February, he has been detained at Trandum awaiting forced return to his home country.
– Today I have been told that I have to get ready to travel, he says on the phone to Nettavisen on Wednesday afternoon.
The man’s lawyer Cecilie Schjatvet confirms to Nettavisen that her client has been told to pack.
– He is being deported despite the fact that the Ethiopian authorities have not responded to inquiries. It could be that this is an assignment that will be of no use and that he will come back, she says.
According to Nettavisen’s understanding, it should only be this Ethiopian who has received notice of deployment this time around.
Mulualem is one of the group of 21 Ethiopians who are detained at the Police’s immigration detention center at Trandum awaiting forced return. Everyone in this group has lived in Norway for a long time, from 10 to well over 20 years. Mulualem was thus a minor when he arrived. He has gone to school in Norway for three years and had a foster family here for the first few years.
– He has had an address in Modum until now. He has been our foster son and foster brother, confirms Nina Djærff to Nettavisen.
– He does not have papers, and we have thought that he cannot be sent out. We have thought that this cannot happen, she says.
When Nettavisen spoke to her, she and her mother had just visited Mulualem at Trandum.
Got a support concert
Djærff tells about the now deceased Ole Paus’ commitment to the Ethiopian. In 2013, the artist held a concert in Åmot church in support of the then 20-year-old Mulu. Around 400 showed up.
– Paus was a big and strong voice that spoke for Mulu. “He is ours”, was his message, says Djærff.
– What is so great about the case of Mulu is that he has a local community around him. There are many children who do not have it. It is important to send a signal to the bureaucrats and politicians that people are moved by these fates, Paus told Bygdeposten in 2013.
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Could be the first
The return freeze to Ethiopia was lifted in May 2022. So far this year, there have been no deportations of Ethiopians.
The police’s immigration unit (PU) is responsible for the deportations. They cannot confirm that they are now ready to start the forced return of the Ethiopians.
– Unfortunately, we cannot share information about the police’s work in connection with verification and return, PU replied to an inquiry from Nettavisen on 19 April. On Wednesday afternoon, Nettavisen sent a new inquiry to PU about transport.
NOAS has protested
The Norwegian Organization for Asylum Seekers (NOAS) has considered that return to Ethiopia is still problematic and contrary to recommendations from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The organization has asked the Norwegian Immigration Service to try one of the Ethiopia cases in the grand jury.
The police’s immigration unit confirms that there are Ethiopian citizens in the immigration detention center awaiting verification/return to Ethiopia, but will not confirm that it is 21.
According to NOAS, a further 60 Ethiopians are eligible for forced return.
PU: – An obligation to leave Norway
The police’s immigration unit will not comment on this figure, but responds as follows:
– It is an obligation to leave Norway and return to your home country when your application for a residence permit is rejected. This duty is imposed on the individual himself, including obtaining a travel document in order to be able to return. All applicants are made aware of this in connection with the application process, regardless of the type of application they are applying for. If you choose to ignore the order to return to your home country, the police can take measures to carry out forced return.
According to PU, there are around 150 Ethiopian citizens whose application for asylum has been refused and who are obliged to leave Norway. According to PU, this means that they have “illegal residence in Norway”.
– In addition, there are many Ethiopian citizens who have been deported due to criminal charges or other reasons. The individual police district is responsible for following up on these cases, PU told Nettavisen.
Will fly to Addis Ababa
PU confirms that the flight will go to Addis Ababa when it becomes relevant:
– Our companions do not have the opportunity to follow the person who is returned further internally in Ethiopia. The police’s responsibility in connection with an outward transport ends after the foreigner has been accepted at the border control. If the foreigner is domiciled outside Addis Ababa, the person concerned must proceed on his own. In such cases, it is considered whether financial support should be given for tickets onward within the country, says the reply from PU.
The Immigration Act sets limits on how long a person can be detained pending forced return. The total period of detention cannot exceed twelve weeks, unless the reason it takes longer is because the foreigner does not cooperate in carrying out the deportation or there are delays in obtaining the necessary documents from the home country’s authorities, PU states.
– In such cases, the total period of detention cannot exceed 18 months. This deadline does not apply if the foreigner has been deported as a result of punishment or special reaction. The various deadlines follow from the Immigration Act section 106 b.
PU says it varies from country to country how long it takes to get a person verified and to have a travel document issued.
– As soon as the police receive this, only the work on the practical implementation will remain, including the itinerary, ticket booking, notification deadlines and other things, PU states.
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– I am sad
29-year-old Mulualem is distraught when Nettavisen talks to him. He says that he went to school in Norway for three years and that he had a foster family in Norway in the early years.
– They are on their way to Trandum now, he says.
– I am sad. This could determine my entire future, he says.
He says that his father was dead when he fled Ethiopia. It was an uncle who helped him escape, so he was smuggled out. His father was politically active, and Mulualem says that he himself was imprisoned for five days, as a twelve-year-old, together with his mother.
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