Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.02.2013, Síða 8

After spending a gazil-
lion dollars convincing
foreigners that Iceland
in winter is not an
uninhabitable rock
f loating in the
colder bits of the
North Atlantic,
the tourism
industry has
found itself overwhelmed
by an influx of winter visitors. Having
been lured here by the promise that Ice-
land wants to be your friend, they have
instead found that Icelandic nature has
all the personal skill of an enraged rein-
deer bull and the charming demeanour
of a sand blaster to the face.
SO ASYLUM TOURISM RE-
FERS TO TOURISTS SEEKING
ASYLUM FROM THE WINTRY
WEATHER?
No, not really, but the reality is only
slightly less ludicrous. The term "asy-
lum tourism" was imported into Icelan-
dic public discourse by Kristín Völun-
dardóttir, the head of the Icelandic
Directorate of Immigration.
OH GOOD, AN EXPERT! WHAT
DOES THIS TERM SHE USED
MEAN?
Here is the odd thing. In a recent Ice-
landic language press release she used
the term "asylum tourism" in English.
In English, that means visiting disused
psychiatric institutions and has noth-
ing to do with asylum seekers. As far as
this column has been able to discover,
the term "asylum tourism" as Kristín
used it could have three origins. The
first comes from Slovakia and began life
as yet another slur on the Roma. The
second meaning, referring to asylum-
seekers being housed in tourist accom-
modation, was born in Austria.
DO YOU KNOW WHO ELSE
WAS BORN IN AUSTRIA?
Kommissar Rex, the crime-fighting Ger-
man Shepard. And really, enough with
the Hitler jokes about Austria, it has been
absolutely ages since they have given us
a genocidal dictator. The third meaning
of "asylum tourism" refers to the prac-
tice of shuttling asylum seekers between
different countries in Europe. However,
none of these meanings have anything to
do with what Kristín Völundardóttir was
talking about in a radio interview that got
her into hot water.
DURING THE ICELANDIC
WINTER, HOT WATER IS
WHAT YOU WANT TO GET
INTO.
That is true, but this is the metaphori-
cal hot water where you end up getting
immediately pencilled in for a meeting
with your boss, in this case Minister of
the Interior Ögmundur Jónasson. You
see, there was an outcry in the media
when Kristín implied that some of the
asylum seekers her institution is sup-
posed to serve were nothing more than
tourists that applied for asylum to re-
ceive free room and board in Iceland.
THAT'S A RATHER ODD
THING FOR A CIVIL SERVANT
IN A POSITION OF AUTHOR-
ITY OVER ASYLUM SEEKERS
TO IMPLY.
Well, she did not imply it so much as
say it outright. She told Icelandic state
broadcaster RÚV that "It can be a bit ap-
pealing for people who are not exactly
asylum seekers, who intend to work il-
legally or come here for other reasons, to
come to Iceland. It could be a very attrac-
tive bonus to get free food and shelter
when the application process is so long."
OH GOODNESS.
She went on: "People are just going
abroad to get to know the country and
nation and make use of the services
that asylum seekers are offered."
When the interview caused
outrage Kristín put out the
previously mentioned
press release claiming
that her words had been
taken out of context.
In response, RÚV
released the entire
interview reveal-
ing that, in fact, she
had not been taken out of
context.
MAYBE SHE DOESN'T UN-
DERSTAND WHAT WORDS
MEAN; APHASIA IS A
RECOGNISED DISORDER.
She certainly has a history of using words
that make people confused. In an article
in the newspaper Fréttablaðið, Tatjana
Latinovic, former head of the Organiza-
tion of Women of Foreign Origin, brought
up a number of remarks by the head of the
Directorate of Immigration, for instance
that people from one particular country
routinely trafficked children and that for-
eigners were gaining Icelandic citizenship
in large numbers using forged papers.
BY NOW I'M JUST GONNA
ASSUME THE WORST AND
GUESS THAT THERE'S NOTH-
ING TO BACK UP THOSE
CLAIMS.
Tatjana says the civil servant offered no
data and made the excuse that the in-
stitute she runs has neither the money
nor time to do scholarship or research.
Which, you know, if they prioritise tak-
ing care of the people in their care, is
excellent news.
THEY DO? SO THERE IS AN
UPSIDE TO... OH... YOU'RE
BEING SARCASTIC.
RÚV's cultural program Víðsjá dedi-
cated part of recent show to this issue.
Asked by a reporter if he considered his
stay in an Icelandic detention centre for
asylum seekers a form of tourism, Af-
ghan refugee Naveen Noori said that it
was like being in a sort of prison. The
rest of the segment bore him out.
Have you engaged in asylum tourism? Tell us about it, Letters@grapevine.is!
Iceland | FAQ
So What's This Asylum Tourism
I Keep Hearing About?
Words
Kári Tulinius
Illustration
Lóa Hjálmtýsdóttir
Kolabrautin is on 4th floor Harpa
Order a table in phone 519 9700
info@kolabrautin.is
www.kolabrautin.is
Whether you experience our surprising neo–Nordic influenced cuisine, or have a drink at
our renowned cocktail bar while enjoying one of the best panoramic views in Reykjavík,
an evening at Kolabrautin is truly a feast for all the senses.
ICELANDIC PRODUCE
MEDITERRANEAN TRADITIONS.
January started off on a sensational
note with international media re-
porting that Iceland was the thing to
fear in 2013. Two different shows on
America’s Public Broadcasting Ser-
vice depicted Iceland as a ticking
time bomb ready to explode this
year. While Iceland is volcanically
active, geologists were quick to point
out that predicting eruptions to the
year is pretty close to impossible.
An Icelander became the unwitting
subject of the international news af-
ter he drank a bottle
of Tópas liqueur,
boarded an Icelan-
dair flight bound
for New York and
proceeded to yell at
and spit on other passengers before
they and the crew managed to tape
him to a seat and gag him. A fellow
passenger photographed the “the air
hooligan” and the image went from
Facebook to Reddit, at which point
his fate was sealed. The airline says
the man will face charges.
President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
had a few things to say this month.
In an interview with the BBC, he said
Iceland’s economy is recovering
because of the national character.
Never mind that this was the same
reason he cited in 2005 to explain
why our eventually doomed venture
capitalists were succeeding. He also
proclaimed that Icelanders will “nev-
er forget Gordon Brown,” that his
name will live in infamy in Iceland for
“centuries.” I guess we’ll have to wait
and see if he’s right about that one.
Whether it was something about her
national character or not, Vilborg
Arna Gissurardóttir became the first
solo Icelander to reach the South
Pole. She travelled by skis and slept
in a tent the entire 60-day journey,
which is perhaps something to keep
in mind when it’s cold and you’re wait-
ing for the bus.
Her supporters
donated a total
6.5 million ISK
to the char-
ity LÍF, which
raises money
for wards catering to females at Ice-
land's national hospital Landspítalinn.
Kudos to Vilborg!
A drunken man who was arrested for
trying to skip out on paying for a des-
sert spent the night in a jail cell where
he at some point attempted to eat a
mattress. The man insisted that he
was hungry and had been denied food
by the police. The police said they vis-
ited the man a total of 17 times, giving
8The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 2 — 2013
– Continues over –
NEWS IN BRIEF
JANUARY