Oslo apologizes for
beggars, prostitutes
and drug addicts
Tourists who have written letters complaining about being accosted on Oslo's main streets are getting a two-page written apology from the head of the city government in return.
 Both Erling Lae and the police want to make Oslo's streets safer and non-threatening, but the police lack state support. PHOTO: CARL MARTIN NORDBY |
| Related stories: |
| Beggars beg for trouble - 23.07.2008 |
| Prostitutes' ranks thin after waves of arrests - 19.06.2008 |
| Beggars spark new debate - 17.07.2008 |
| Beggar boycott urged in Oslo - 02.06.2008 |
Erling Lae of the Conservatives, who leads Oslo's Municipal Executive Board, says he's personally embarrassed when such complaints come in. And they've been streaming in of late.
Visitors to Oslo say they're "shocked" by the sheer numbers of prostitutes, beggars and drug addicts who now sometimes aggressively accost people right in the heart of town, on the capital's parade boulevard Karl Johans Gate.
One visitor from Sweden told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) that he was uncomfortable just walking near the central train station with his children. Another visitor from France expressed dismay that there was so much open solicitation in a city that's supposed to be affluent.
Lae is distressed and says the situation flies in the face of Norway's image as a prosperous welfare state . "People must wonder what kind of needs we have that we don't manage to address in this country," he told NRK.
Lae has asked the police to help get the drug addicts, beggars and prostitutes off the streets, and feels powerless when that doesn't happen. Neither begging nor prostitution is currently illegal, and the city has no local police force of its own. All police in Norway are state police.
Neither Lae nor the visitors (or residents of Oslo) are getting much sympathy from Justice Minister Knut Storberget of the Labour Party. He points out that it was Lae's own party that proposed decriminalizing begging. Labour went along with the proposal.
"It doesn't help to punish these people, we need to help those who are in such a poor social situation," Storberget said. He has refused to order the state police to launch a new crackdown on the streetwalkers.
Nina Berglund
No comments:
Post a Comment