Norwegian immigration officials temporarily stop policy towards unaccompanied children seeking asylum.
The policy, which has been practised since 2008, sees that unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Norway are deported to the first European country they requested asylum in.
This practice has now been suspended with all asylum applications from children being considered in Norway, regardless of whether they applied somewhere else first.
The decision follows a European Court of Human Rights ruling in June defining the return practice as illegal, NRK reports.
Janne Olise Raanes, from Save the Children told calls the move “a very big step” in the right direction for these children. She has been campaigning for suspension of this return practice for five years.
Asylum Lawyer Arild Humlen now wants politicians to take responsibility for the policy, calling for improved immigration legislation.
“Parliament has been exceptionally passive in addressing the situation of children’s rights,” he said, Friday.
66 persons so far this year now have the possibility of remaining in Norway.
