Stoltenberg saddened by insults aimed at Roma
Norway´s Prime Minister; Jens Stoltenberg: Photo Tor Erik Schrøder/NTB Scanpix
Prime
Minister Jens Stoltenberg has called on Norwegians not to discriminate against
Roma people amid growing discontent over the establishment of temporary
campsites in the capital Oslo.
As debate rages
on internet forums, the Labour Party leader implored his fellow citizens to
learn the lessons of the dual terrorist attacks that left 77 people dead last
July.
“One of the
things July 22nd showed us was how important it is not to judge and brand
people just because they belong to a certain group. These kinds of words and
expressions can only lead to more hatred and conflict,” Stoltenberg told news
agency NTB.
Stoltenberg was
referring to terms – such as “subhumans” and “rats” – that have been used by
some internet users to describe a community of Roma people currently camped out
in Årvoll and other parts of Oslo.
Some 200 people
had previously camped at Sofienberg church before they were asked last week by
church leaders to leave. The occupants of the site claimed they had moved there
in large numbers after being routinely harassed by the police.
Stoltenberg
said he was upset to hear the kind of opinions that have bubbled to the surface
in the current conflict.
At the same
time, the prime minster also made it clear that Roma people who come to Norway
from countries like Romania and Bulgaria should expect the same treatment as
any other citizens of countries in the European Economic Area.
In order to
remain in the country legally, they must be in a position to earn a living and
they must respect Norwegian law, he noted.
“But they also
need to be treated with dignity and respect as individuals,” said Stoltenberg.
In recent
months, a number of senior politicians from the Progress Party and the
Conservative Party have joined the debate by calling for a blanket ban on
begging, which they claim fuels organized crime in the Roma community.
This has
prompted many on the left to label representatives of the two right-wing
parties as racists.
Folk er Folk (People are People), a group set up to support the
Roma community in Norway, has likened Oslo politicians to Anders Behring
Breivik, the confessed perpetrator of the July 22nd. The group has also drawn
comparisons with the persecution of Jews under the Nazis.
Seeking to calm
the situation, Oslo’s deputy mayor Libe Rieber-Mohn (Labour Party) urged all
sides to exercise restraint and refrain from portraying political opponents as
racists.
“We do the Roma
people a major disservice if we deny there are challenges and leave the
Progress Party and Conservatives to formulate political solutions alone,” she
told newspaper Klassekampen.
“When the left
uses these kinds of debating techniques we push people away from us. The
Progress Party and Conservatives aren’t racists; their proposals just differ
from ours.”
Suggestions put
forward by Rieber-Mohn include the provision of cheaper overnight accommodation
in Oslo, the introduction of targeted labour market measures, and the creation
of begging-free zones rather than an outright ban on the practice.
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