Fence in Norway to keep refugees out

Norway is building a steel fence at its border with Russia after the country saw an influx of thousands of refugees last year.

The new fence, which will be around 660 feet long and 11 feet high, will stretch from the Skorskog border point, sources in the Norwegian government told Reuters.

Construction of the fence is due to finish before winter frosts set in, making it harder to enter Norway through the forest.

Deputy Justice Minister Ove Vanebo defended the gate and fence, telling Reuters they were “responsible measures”.

Although around 23,000 people, mostly from Syria, applied for refugee status in Norway last year, the number of asylum seekers arriving plummeted by 95 per cent in the first third of 2016, the Independent reported.

“I can’t see a need for a fence,” Rune Rafaelsen, the mayor of the Soer-Varanger region which includes the border, told Reuters. “There are too many fences going up in Europe today,” he added, citing examples of barbed wire in nations such as Hungary.

Linn Landro, of the Refugees Welcome group in Norway, said: “We’ve an obligation to be a country people can flee to.

“The fence sends a very negative signal, including to Russia because it says that ‘we don’t trust you’.”

Russia and Norway had battled to repeatedly reject the same refugees last year. Norway had said it would send refugees who have Russian residency permits back to Russia, arguing it had received no “satisfactory” explanation from Russia as to why it sent so many refugees to Norway rather than Finland.

Refugees had used bicycles to cross the Arctic border.