A number of individuals have been released from immigration detention as a result of measures implemented in response to the pandemic. As of early April, the Police Immigration Department had released 10 individuals as deportations became impossible to undertake. Those released are required to remain in a stated location, either a private address or asylum reception centre.
Arriving asylum seekers are to be quarantined for 14 days at the Rade arrival centre before they can be transferred to other reception centres.
The Norwegian Correctional Service had released by early April nearly 200 prisoners in order to reduce prison populations. As of 7 April 2020, seven members of staff of the correctional service and two prisoners serving sentences in the community had tested positive for Covid-19.
- ELENA, “ELENA Weekly Legal Update,” 20 March 2020, https://mailchi.mp/ecre/elena-weekly-legal-update-20-march-2020?e=a95f4356a0
- Politiet, “Loslatelser fra utlendingsinternatet,” 18 March 2020, https://www.politiet.no/aktuelt-tall-og-fakta/aktuelt/nyheter/2020/03/18/loslatelser-fra-utlendingsinternatet/
- B. Kerr, “194 Inmates were Released Ahead of Time to Reduce the Risk of Corona Infection,” Norway Today, 1 April 2020, https://tinyurl.com/warb4fr
- Kriminalomsorgen, “Coronavirus: Measures Set in Force by the Correction Service”, 6 April 2020, https://www.kriminalomsorgen.no/coronavirus-information-in-english.526292.no.html
- Global Detention Project, Immigration Detention in Norway, www.globaldetentionproject.org/countries/europe/norway
