Tesfanews has posted a news item which is simply wrong. Tesfanews claims that the Norwegian Parliament (or Storting) refused to adopt measures to halt Transnational Repression against Eritreans living in Norway by the Eritrean authorities. The exact opposite is the truth.
The Norwegian Parliament’s reply
For avoidance of doubt, this is a reply from the Norwegian Parliament to a query about the debate.
As the Adviser to the Parliament’s Standing Committees Secretariat on Constitutional Department states:
The majority of the Standing Committee on Local Government and Public Administration seconded one motion, and this motion was carried. Consequently, the Storting resolved to ask the government to follow up Proba report 2020-3 “Pressure and control – a study of economic, ideological or religious pressure originating in the country of origin, aimed at people with an immigrant background in Norway” and Proba report 2023-10 “Transnational oppression – term clarification and sectoral responsibility” and to take measures to prevent transnational oppression of persons in Norway, for example through an action plan against transnational oppression.
The Proba reports that were debated by the Parliament
You can find the official reports in Norwegian here and here. They were written by Proba samfunnsanalyse.
This is an unofficial translation. The report, Transnational repression conceptual clarification and sectoral responsibilities, provides detailed evidence of the measures that repressive foreign governments use against diasporic communities living in Norway.
The report states that:
The purpose has been to strengthen the conceptual understanding of what has been referred to as economic, ideological or religious “pressure and control” against diaspora groups by the authorities of the country of origin or persons who can act on their behalf. In this report, we propose the term transnational repression and a new definition.
The report explains that:
Acts covered by the concept of transnational repression can be grouped into the following main categories:
1) Violence and other attacks against the physical safety of persons
2) Threats
3) Harassment and discrediting
4) Infiltration
5) Restriction or conditional consular services
6) Monitoring
7) Weakening and abuse of international frameworks
Transnational oppression can thus be expressed in many different ways and in different arenas of society. A wide range of different acts and means are used, and these can be subject to a number of different criminal offences.
The report gives details of all of these forms of violence and intimidation before stating that:
It seems that the Norwegian authorities’ reaction and response to transnational oppression is currently somewhat characterised by a failure to interpret or frame the problem in a way that adequately reflects the seriousness of the problem.
Martin Plaut 