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Norway's 'effective' border checks extended

The Local Norway
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Norway's 'effective' border checks extended
All arriving ferry passengers will still be subject to checks. Photo: NTB Scanpix

The Norwegian government said on Friday it would extend border checks for an additional 30 days.

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The government said that passengers on all ferry arrivals from Denmark, Sweden and Germany would be subject to personal checks for an additional 30 days. 
 
In announcing the extension, the government said that the number of asylum seekers coming to Norway has gone down significantly since the country implemented controls of its inner Schengen borders on November 26
 
The move was originally to last ten days but Friday’s move marks the third extension of the border controls and will keep them in place until March 15th. 
 
“The control tactics have had a good preventive effect and we have reason to believe that many will refrain from travelling to Norway because of the border controls,” Justice Minister Anders Anundsen said. 
 
“The controls are not a significant inconvenience to normal travellers,” he added. 
 
The Norwegian government said the extension was out of consideration to “public order and inner security” in the face of the “continued large pressure on Schengen’s outer borders”. 
 
“Many unregistered foreigners in the Schengen area may wish to move on to another country. Norway therefore still needs to have control of its own maritime borders,” the government statement read. 
 
Scandinavian neighbours Denmark and Sweden have also implemented and repeatedly extended border controls. Asylum claims in all three countries have dropped significantly since the border controls were put in place. 
 
In addition to the checks on its Schengen borders, Norway is also now immediately rejecting asylum seekers at its Storskog border station north of the Arctic Circle if they have been residing in Russia. 

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