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Norway’s PM wants to ban youth gangs from Oslo

The Local Norway
The Local Norway - [email protected]
Norway’s PM wants to ban youth gangs from Oslo
Norwegian PM Erna Solberg. File photo: AFP

Prime Minister Erna Solberg said on Thursday it may be appropriate to introduce a ban against youth gangs in Oslo.

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Solberg’s comments, made at a public meeting in Oslo, were made in the context of recent reports that juvenile delinquency has increased in the Norwegian capital.

A ban against gangs would be a weapon in the fight against rising child and youth crime, Solberg said.

“The purpose of this is to give the police the option of expelling youths from areas so that they can prevent things like fighting,” Solberg told VG.

“This is a tool, not a solution to the main problem of child and youth crime, but it can help to prevent an increase in the level of conflict,” she added.

The PM said to the newspaper that the government was looking into how such a ban might be enforced.

“We are looking into it and will need to find a framework for how it will be regulated. If you are going to restrict people's freedom of movement, you must have a legal basis for that and know how to implement it,” she said.

Solberg said that a ban of this type could potentially be provided for by city regulations.

Labour politician Jan Bøhler said at the town hall that the number of young people in gangs in Oslo police district has almost tripled over the last four years, VG reports.

READ ALSO: Oslo nightlife: What is behind the recent spate of violence?

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