Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.01.2005, Síða 6
As for forced marriages, I don’t really
know of any. I suppose the figure
of 50 to 80 cases could be accurate,
but even if it was, does that mean we
have to discriminate against everyone
who comes here?”
Doing like the Danes
The “age 24 law” is strikingly similar
to an immigration law passed in
Denmark. I asked Mr. Bjarnason if
he thought the law was doing well in
Denmark:
“Yes, I think it is. Now the Dutch
are intending to use the age of 21.
We could have used 26, or 21. We
chose 24, like the Danes.”
Margrét Steinarsdóttir disagrees with
the notion that the age 24 law is
working well in Denmark:
“I feel that this law will change
because of the recent visit to
Denmark by Alvaro Gil-Robles,
who is the Council of Europe
Commissioner for Human Rights.
He recommended that the Danish
review the exact same rule as it could
be in violation of Article 8 of the
European Convention of Human
Rights.”
Article 8 states:
“Everyone has the right to respect for
his private and family life, his home
and his correspondence. There shall be
no interference by a public authority
with the exercise of this right except such
as is in accordance with the law and
is necessary in a democratic society in
the interests of national security, public
safety or the economic well-being of the
country, for the prevention of disorder
or crime, for the protection of health or
morals, or for the protection of the rights
and freedoms of others.“
Ms. Steinarsdóttir adds:
“Already lawsuits have begun in
Denmark, filed by both NGOs and
“mixed marriage” couples. These
cases could go all the way up to the
European Court of Human Rights
and, if they will, I have a very strong
feeling they would rule in favour of
those who filed the suit.”
Mr. Bjarnason dismissed this claim,
stating:
“The Danish Minister of
Immigration said that the European
Commissioner for Humans Rights
had issued a political declaration
which did not have any legal effect.
The Danish law on “mixed marriage”
is not the same as the Icelandic. The
Icelandic law is not an exact copy of
the Danish law although we use the
same age limit, 24 years.”
But when asked why Iceland chose
the age of 24 for this particular law,
Mr. Bjarnason replied:
“Traditionally, Iceland has taken
notice of legal trends in Denmark
and, after this rule became law there,
we copied this law as our own.”
Ms. Steinarsdóttir says:
“One feels that many stipulations of
the Law on foreigners are basically
vague and open to interpretation,
that they’re written in such a way
that if the Immigration authorities
wanted to, they could effectively
close the country.”
How old is old? The “age 67” law:
“Mr. Bjarnason explained:
This rule applies to close relatives
who wish to apply for a residence
permit as a family member – that is,
not on the basis of a working permit.
Persons younger than 67 years are
not entitled to such a permit. I think
this clause in the law has been greatly
misinterpreted.”
And if one parent is older than 67
but the other one isn’t? I asked.
“Then only the older parent would
be able to come here on the basis of
such a permit,” he replied.
Ms. Steinarsdóttir feels differently,
stating:
“What some people might not know
about this law is that in addition
to the parent having to be at least
67 years old, you also have to show
proof that you’ve been supporting
him/her financially. The law does
not say how much money you need
to have sent them or for how long,
but the minimum support of an
individual in this country is 77,083
krónur a month, and the period
of support would probably have to
be at least one or two years. No
justification that I know of has been
given for this age limit, but the age
of 67 in Iceland, is the legal age for
pension for example.”
Mr. Bjarnason concludes:
“The issue is not about marriage
but about the right to apply for
a residence permit as a family
member in Iceland. Marriage does
not automatically give a foreigner,
younger than 24 years old, the right
to such a permit. There are different
aspects concerning forced marriages.
They do not create the right to a
permit to stay, but in these cases the
authorities have to prove that the
marriage is not based on the free
will of both spouses. Of course it is
necessary to send out the message
that it is unacceptable to live in a
forced marriage and I believe that
by this law, we have sent a clear
message.”
Ms. Steinarsdóttir:
“I’d say the age 24 law has caused
major problems to spouses who
are not yet 25 years old. Instead of
passing a law which discriminates
against everyone, forced marriages
should be addressed with a
community outreach program which
educates young women that they
don’t have to stay in a marriage
that they were forced into, that
they can get a divorce, and that the
government will protect them.”
WE TRUST YOU . . . SORTA
Five years ago, it was easy for me to move to Iceland. All I had to do was remain in my home country
while I looked for an employer in Iceland who had been advertising my potential job in the paper and
then, if no Icelander applied for the job, I simply faxed over photocopies off all my documents, had these
documents and a form my employer filled out sent to the Office of Immigration, who then sent these
papers to the Directorate of Labour, who then sent a letter to my employer, which allowed me to come
to Iceland, where I had to go the Office of Immigration with said letter, two passport-sized photos and
500 krónur, and voila! - I became the proud owner of a Temporary Work and Residence Permit, with a
whole 12 months to go before I had to do it all over again.
Yeah, those were simpler times.
Today’s immigration laws have been
worked over a tad. In addition to
the bureaucratic waltz described
above, there have been a few changes
made, as Minister of Justice Björn
Bjarnason explained to Grapevine,
“to comply with the regulations
of the European Economic
Community,” and “to prevent
persons from obtaining residence
permits through illegal or criminal
behaviour.”
Some of these measures have
inspired questions and even
outrage among both Icelanders
and immigrants alike. Two laws in
particular - known colloquially as
the “age 24 law” and the “age 67
law” - have been criticised by some
as being inordinately unfair towards
foreigners. Both of these laws are
actually changes made to existing
laws and, at the time of writing, are
only available in Icelandic.
The “age 24 law“: Are forced
marriages a big problem in
Iceland?
What the “age 24 law” says is that a
foreigner’s marriage to an Icelander
does not change their legal status
until they are older than 24 years
of age. The “age 67 law” says that
the parents of a foreigner cannot
immigrate to Iceland as family
members until they’ve reached the
age of 67.
I asked Minister of Justice Björn
Bjarnason if false and fake marriages
are a big problem in Iceland, and he
replied:
“As I said in parliament, there have
been several instances of suspected
forced or false marriages in Iceland -
somewhere between 50 and 80 cases
have been dealt with by the police,
which they didn’t really have the
authority to investigate until now [so
why were they doing it? –ed.]. Each
case was treated individually, so I
can’t really go into the grounds for
suspicion of each individual case.”
When posing the same question to
Ms. Margrét Steinarsdóttir, a lawyer
who works for the Intercultural
centre, the reaction was slightly
different:
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t know of
any false marriages, but they’re rare.
What the immigration laws are really saying
by Paul F Nikolov
“I believe that by this law, we have sent a
clear message”, Björn Bjarnason, Minister of Justice
“if the Immigration authorities wanted to, they
could effectively close the country”,
Margrét Steinarsdóttir, lawyer for the Intercultural Center
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