Norway boosts measures to cope with wave of Ukrainian refugees

The Norwegian government is taking new measures to help the rising number of Ukrainian refugees to the country find housing and employment, it said on Tuesday, reported Xinhua.

"After the summer, arrivals (of Ukrainians) to Norway have increased, and in the last eight weeks more have arrived here than to the other Nordic countries combined," said Emilie Enger Mehl, Norway's minister of justice and public security.

More than 65,000 displaced Ukrainians have sought refuge in Norway since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, with 29,000 arriving this year alone. This has strained resources in municipalities, particularly in areas such as housing, language training, and services, said Mehl.

The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration now plans to open an additional 2,000 to 3,000 reception places, she said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Labor and Social Inclusion Tonje Brenna underlined that 542 displaced Ukrainians had found work in September.

Ukrainians with previous upper secondary education must also be offered at least 15 hours of work-oriented elements per week as part of the introductory program, she added, and a digital system for Norwegian language education has been proposed by the government.