Suicidal Empathy Watch, Norway Ed. as Cash-Strapped Municipalities Discuss Ending Refugee Support
And just like this, wealthy Norway is embroiled in a debate about 'can we afford to spend that much on refugees'--who would have thought that this discussion begins in the Nordic oil emirate?
After two days of heavy ‘science™’ reading, now for something ‘lighter’: let’s revisit the topic of mass immigration, specifically the part where we consider the economic consequences thereof.
As some of you may or may not remember, a bunch of Dutch researchers recently studied the fiscal/public finance aspects of mass immigration and found rather sobering results:
Sustained mass immigration from non-Western cultures constitutes a massive drag on fiscal/public finances as more and more resources are spent that do not yield a taxable population further down the road.
The study I refer to was written by Van de Beek et al. and it bears the name ‘Borderless Welfare State’. I encourage everyone to read it in its entirety.
Immigrants that make on average a significantly negative contribution to Dutch public finances are mainly those who exercise the right to asylum, especially if they come from Africa and the Middle East…
Immigration pressure, in particular on the welfare states in Northwest Europe, will therefore increase to an unprecedented degree. This raises the question of whether maintaining the open-ended arrangement enshrined in the existing legal framework is a realistic option under these circumstances.
I’ve written about it a year ago:
If you’re short on time, here’s a podcast with Jan Van de Beek, which was posted by Aporia Magazine online in early December 2023.
And now, without much further ado, a piece from Norway to illustrate how ‘prescient’ Van de Beek and colleagues were.
Translation, emphases, and [snark] mine.
Will Say ‘No’ to Refugees to Save Municipal Finances: ‘Embarrassing’
Several municipalities are struggling financially and want to cut the number of refugees. Stord [municipality] wants a full refugee admission stop because a good outlook in manufacturing is putting pressure on property prices this spring.
By Eli Bjelland, NRK, 9 Nov. 2024 [source]
‘We're very pleased with the high level of activity in the business community. However, the side effect is that the prices of rental properties are very high, and it will be expensive for us to house refugees’, says Mayor Sigbjørn Framnes (Frp).
Stord municipality has welcomed 265 refugees since 2022 [Wikipedia link; Stord is a small town with 19K inhabitants in total although the main town Leirvik has some 14K inhabitants].
Now that may be coming to an end. Municipal Director Tommy Johansen believes that politicians must decide to put a full stop from next year.
Three of the parties in the majority coalition in the municipal council, consisting of Høgre [conservatives-in-name-only], Frp [Norway’s populist libertarian], KrF [centrist Christian-Democrats], and Venstre [mainstrean liberal-progressives], told NRK that they see no alternative and therefore support the proposal. The Liberal Party has not taken a position on the proposal, but the party’s one representative is not necessary to achieve a majority.
All indications are therefore that there will be a majority in favour of the decision when the municipal council meets to deal with the matter on 28 November.
Drastic Developments
The reason is that the municipality’s finances are poor. In addition, there is a shortage of both housing and GPs. The integration of Ukrainians is also taking longer than the municipality envisaged.
‘There is a total package here that means we are going for what many will probably consider to be a drastic proposal’, says Johansen.
He recently presented a budget proposal to cut 45 full-time employment equivalents [FTE], including 4.5 FTE in the refugee service at NAV [Norway’s social/welfare office].
Thousands of Hired Labourers Need Housing
The island municipality is struggling financially, but industry is thriving. Aker Solutions Stord, which is Norway’s largest offshore shipyard, is located here.
Large assignments require several thousand migrant workers, but it is difficult to find accommodation for all of them [ah, the classic question arises once more: virtue-signalling do-gooders vs. the cold-nosed captains of industry].
Mayor Sigbjørn Framnes (Frp) says refugee cuts will result in savings of between NOK 3.5 and 4 million [divide by 12 to arrive at ± US$ or euro equivalents], and will also ease the pressure on the housing market and health services.
The governing coalition has not yet reached a conclusion on the matter.
‘I personally think this is a sensible proposal from the municipal director. Of course, it's not a good feeling to say no to people who need help, but we have to take care of those who have come already, too’, says Gunnhild Hystad, head of the local KrF party.
Almost all municipalities take part in the effort
Since 2022, around 85,000 refugees have arrived from Ukraine. Almost all Norwegian municipalities have helped to accommodate them [the nat’l gov’t hands out 500,000 NOK = approx. US$ 41K per year and refugee, but municipalities are required to pay a lot extra, incl. language courses, find jobs for refugees, and, of course, house them, as well as, if they have kids, pay for school etc.].
This year, only six municipalities have decided not to accept any refugees, according to figures from the Norwegian Directorate for Integration and Diversity (IMDI).
The municipalities in question are [talk about shaming them publicly]:
Moskenes (Nordland)
Måsøy (Finnmark)
Berlevåg (Finnmark)
Utsira (Rogaland)
Bygland (Agder)
Rakkestad (Østfold)
Three of them have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants [now do the math once more: if you’re a small municipality, taking in even one family is quite an extra expenditure]. Stord municipality has more than 19,000 inhabitants.
The Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) has not received any signals about more municipalities that may adopt a full refugee cap for next year [2025]:
Some are signalling that they want to reduce the number of refugees, but I haven't heard of such large municipalities considering a full stop.
This is according to Nina Gran, Head of Immigration and Integration at KS.
Many Ukrainian refugees
Norwegian municipalities are likely to be asked to accept 18,900 refugees next year. This is a decrease from this year, when they were asked to accept 37,000.
IMDI will send out the final figures at the end of November.
Most of the refugees still come from Ukraine, but the government has now tightened their rights.
‘The efforts of the municipalities in recent years have been formidable. At the same time, the extensive resettlement has to varying degrees led to pressure on municipal services, and this may affect how many they will receive next year’, says Halwan Ibrahim, Assistant Director of IMDI.
Embarrassing and Damaging to Reputation
Municipalities are compensated for the costs of hosting refugees, but not fully.
Calculations from KS show that the integration grant covers around 92% of the actual costs. Grants for vocational training cover around 80%.
The budget negotiations in Stord municipality have started.
The Labour Party, which is the largest opposition party, has already decided to oppose the proposal for a refugee cap.
The municipality has always decided to accommodate refugees, according to IMDI statistics dating back to 1995.
‘This is an endeavour that we also have a public responsibility to participate in. It will look very bad and is embarrassing if Stord does not take on this responsibility’, says Gaute Straume Epland, group leader of Stord Ap.
Bottom Lines
And there you have corroboration for the Dutch researchers.
I’ve looked around but found no further news item I could bring to you right now about this issue.
Do keep in mind that Norway is rather wealthy, and the gov’t could, of course, pay for these things—but they won’t. Note that it’s a left/far-left gov’t in office right now, and I suppose that whoever forms the next gov’t will be (far) less inclined to pursue such policies to the same extent.
Note, further, that Norway counts among those countries that massages the numbers by differentiating between ‘asylum seekers’ and (vs.) ‘refugees’ and having two gov’t departments administer these meta categories separately:
That said, the buck stops with the Treasury/Finance Ministry, and here the Dutch data is suggestive of non-Western immigration being a net drag on public finances.
As the above piece also shows, though, the ‘debate™’ is thoroughly ‘zombie-fied’ as it’s a bunch of moralising statements (not taking in more refugees is ‘embarrassing’) instead of a discussion of public finances.
Note that Stord is among the municipalities with relatively higher public income levels due to offshore companies being located there. The situation is arguably worse in other, smaller and less wealthy municipalities.
Nor is this a debate of ‘us’ vs. ‘them’, as the costs of immigration—specifically high housing costs—is felt by the offshore industry who also needs accommodation for its foreign labour force.
Just imagine how this situation will spin out of control once an economic downturn sets in and municipalities would need to weigh cuts in social spending on taxpayers vs. what may only be called ‘suicidal empathy’ to continue.
And, yes, Norway’s first-world problems might seem odd to non-Nordics, but don’t forget—if a drastic turn-around occurs here, the spillover effects will be felt elsewhere before to long, too.
Recently, the town of Pirmasens (former shoemaker capitol of Germany and nowadays rather poor) was the first in Germany to reach an agreement with the state not to have to take in any more refugees.
Link to report isn't working; the error message says the link goes nowhere.
About migration: it's a "självändamål" - the thing itself is the point of the thing. Always was.
Look at that theater in France: they "can't" get rid of the Negro-gang occupying it.
"Can't". As if there are no riot police, no tear gas, no armoured vehicles, no bullets, clubs, et cetera.
Nope. They just "can't".
It is a weaponisation of whatever the opposite of Will is.