VZCZCXRO0314
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHNY #1486/01 3421418
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081418Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY OSLO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4981
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OSLO 001486 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/NB, EUR/PPD, EUR/PGI, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KISL KPAO PGOV PHUM PREL SCUL SOCI NO
SUBJECT: NORWAY: AMBASSADOR HOSTS INTEGRATION DINNER, WHICH 
HIGHLIGHTS TROUBLING NORWEGIAN REALITY 
 
REF: A. OSLO 1451 
     ¶B. OSLO 1333 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: On 6 December, the Ambassador hosted a dinner 
which brought together leading government officials, 
parliamentarians, and immigrant community leaders to debate 
Norway's integration practices and to discuss the American 
experience and what role the embassy can play in the 
Norwegian situation.  Participants debated the root causes of 
integration failure in Norway and the issues facing this 
country.  The general perception of the American experience 
was positive, and was used as model, especially by the 
immigrant community leaders.  The only Muslim parliamentarian 
in Norway, Saera T. Khan, lauded the event at the end of 
dinner, saying that it was the 'first time that any 
ambassador had invited her to actually discuss politics', a 
troubling reflection of the approach to these issues and to 
minority leaders.  The dinner also underscored the lack of 
public debate on this issue. END SUMMARY. 
 
THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST...AND INTERESTED 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The guest list included two parliamentarians from the 
governing coalition, community leaders from a wide variety of 
backgrounds including Iranian, Pakistani, Moroccan, Indian 
and Vietnamese, several University of Oslo experts including 
former Harvard professor Unni Wikan as well as participants 
from the public sector.  These latter included the Gender and 
Equality Ombudsman Beate Gangaas, the Director of the 
Organization Against Public Discrimination Akheraton de Leon, 
the General Director of the Department of Integration and 
Diversity at the Ministry of Labor Barbro Bakken, and Lisa 
Cooper, an American immigrant who now heads the Directorate 
of Integration and Diversity. 
 
THE UNDERLYING PROBLEMS 
----------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Norway's "non-Norwegian"/immigrant population is 
large; constituting 25 percent of Oslo's population and 8 
percent of the nation.  See Reftel A for further details. 
Although there are success stories, including several of our 
guests at dinner, they are drowned out by statistics showing 
higher unemployment, lower education levels, and greater 
criminality among the immigrant population.  When posed the 
question of "what concerns you about Norway?", three main 
areas were noted. 
 
- First, immigrants do not have access to the job market. 
Certainly at the management level, but also at the entry 
level for blue-collar workers, getting a job is considered to 
be especially difficult if one is dark-skinned or has a 
foreign name.  Asylum seekers are also kept outside of the 
job market while their cases are pending, which leaves them 
feeling shunned or as though they are non-participants in 
social questions and the future of the nation.  One 
participant at dinner mentioned immigrants going to three 
lengthy and consecutive rounds of job training, without ever 
receiving a job offer. 
 
- Second, there are various degrees of commitment to Norway 
among the immigrant communities.  Some guest workers are here 
for short-term gain.  Other asylum seekers are unsure if this 
country is really where they want to settle.  Their impact 
shapes ethnic Norwegians expectations for all immigrants: 
they cannot naturally make the connection that 'foreigners' 
may indeed be their proud fellow Norwegians. 
 
- Third, despite constant debate in the media about ancillary 
issues arising from immigration, there has not been a broad 
and honest debate about what the desired outcome of 
integration in twenty years actually is.  What do people want 
in the 'new Norway'?  In the meantime, the walls between 
people of different background in the country continue to 
grow. 
 
COMPARISONS TO THE U.S. 
----------------------- 
 
¶4. (U)  The U.S. experience was a point of reference for all 
of the participants.  One unavoidable difference as noted by 
Bakken is that the U.S. may offer a chance for immigrants to 
fulfill their dreams, but the risk if one fails is great, 
whereas in Norway, social mobility is much more limited, but 
the risk of a fall is minimal because of the strong safety 
net.  With this difference in mind, participants were 
especially positive about work opportunities available for 
immigrants to the U.S., even illegal immigrants.  They also 
noted ruefully that having English as the national language 
 
OSLO 00001486  002 OF 002 
 
 
is much more of a motivation for immigrants than trying to 
encourage new citizens to study and speak Norwegian.  Where 
Norway does approach the U.S. is in having a 'critical mass' 
of immigrant or non-ethnic Norwegians that, by their very 
size, force people to take notice and deal with them as a 
economic and political force.  This is a change from twenty 
years ago, when immigrant groups could be conveniently kept 
separate and tapped for labor without having to actually be 
included in daily life. 
 
¶5. (U) Immigrant community leaders tend to be a bit 
starry-eyed when mentioning the model of the U.S. for 
integration.  As noted in Reftel B at our initial dinner on 
this subject, there is a focus on the positive aspects of 
U.S. society without much reflection on the challenges that 
we still face.  Nevertheless, the participants who had been 
to the U.S. noted that the reality was still tremendously 
positive and that the tension that they sometimes feel in 
Norway is absent in America. 
 
WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP? 
----------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) Surprisingly, it was considered a boon just to have a 
forum for the Norwegians to share their views and concerns. 
Although there is much media discussion on these issues, 
there is little apparent public debate, and the immigrant 
group leaders do not often have the opportunity to share 
their thoughts directly with the Norwegian government 
officials who are supposed to be helping their communities 
with integration.  But beyond that role as a facilitator for 
discussion, participants expressed hope that the U.S. Embassy 
would sponsor speakers, debate in public forums such as the 
university, and facilitate U.S. cultural programming with the 
immigrant communities in Norway.  All of these items are on 
our engagement program for the coming year, and we anticipate 
continued success in our efforts to engage a broader audience 
in our close ally Norway as the country grapples with change. 
Whitney