Record number
of new citizens
Fully 14,900 persons were granted Norwegian citizenship last year, the highest number ever. Very few of the immigrants in Norway from European countries were among them, however, raising new debate over Norway's ban on dual citizenship.
 New Norwegian citizens are required to turn in their existing passports. Fully 70 percent of those granted citizenship last year came from non-European countries. PHOTO: ILLUSTRATION: ØRJAN JENSEN |
The citizenship statistics were up by 2,200 from 2005, which had been a record year as well. More than 200,000 immigrants to Norway became Norwegian citizens between 1977 and 2007, reported state statistics bureau SSB on Thursday.
Iraqi and Somalian citizens made up the largest groups of foreigners converting to Norwegian citizenship. Seven of 10 persons granted citizenship and Norwegian passports last year came from non-European countries, according to SSB.
That may be because Norway demands that new citizens give up their existing citizenship and turn in their old passports. Many immigrants to Norway from Europe, the US, or Canada, for example, aren't willing to do that and thus continue to live in Norway as merely permanent residents, unable to take part in national elections but eligible for most other benefits of Norwegian citizenship.
The case for dual citizenship
Rebekka Borsch, who moved to Norway from Germany, is among them. Borsch, writing in a commentary in newspaper Aftenposten last weekend, argued that Norwegian authorities should open up for dual citizenship like many other countries do around the world.
"I speak, think and live Norwegian, and I feel at home in Norway," she wrote. "All the same, I can't be like most Norwegians, because part of me is German ... How can I give up one or the other?"
Borsch noted that in order to become a Norwegian citizen, she'd have to give up her German citizenship. "What's so dangerous with giving someone like me, who has a dual identity, dual citizenship?" she asked. "Why do I have to cut my roots, become completely new, to be Norwegian?"
Most holders of EU and American passports who move to Norway opt to keep them, Borsch wrote. "That means they can never take part in national politics, and are excluded from some state positions," she noted. "Worst of all is that they, in my opinion, will never become part of Norwegian society. They will remain foreigners."
Nina Berglund/NTB
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