65° - 01.09.1967, Blaðsíða 21

FOREIGN WORKERS
How Are They Having It?
One gets the impression from the Reykjavik
newspapers that most disturbances involving
young people are directly caused by the foreign-
ers in their midst, though the foreigners might
comprise a bare minimum.
65° presented the situation of the foreign
worker to Jon Sigurpalsson of the Immigration
Service in Reykjavik for some edifying answers.
It is rather exceptional for a foreign worker
to create disturbances requiring police interven-
tion, Mr. Sigurpalsson says, but when it happens,
it often receives more publicity than when it in-
volves only Icelanders.
Occasionally someone who appears to be an
alien is questioned by the police to make sure
his papers are in order, but this seldom happens.
On the other hand, foreigners from all walks of
life often come to the police themselves for direc-
tion or information. There are few complaints
from them, and when they do arise they may
often be based on mutual misunderstanding. Mr.
Sigurpalsson agreed that one such misunder-
standing might be “pushing”. Some foreigners
regard pushing as an implied insult and become
irritated or fighting mad depending on the mean-
ing of such bodily contact in their own culture.
Some Icelanders, on the other hand, do not regard
pushing or being pushed as an insult. If they
push it is to remove an impersonal harrier to
their progress, and they feel little need to excuse
themselves, nor do they intend or expect a fight.
Last December, he explained, several articles
appeared in the newspapers regarding “flaeking-
ar” (bums) who were filling up the streets and
restaurants during the dark winter days. These
workers had actually come for the fishing season,
at which work many eventually found jobs, but
the season was delayed and they actually had
nothing to do but wait for the fish — as many
Icelanders do.
Between seven hundred and one thousand Faro-
ese come to Iceland annually for the fishing work
— most of them, however, pre-hired on arrival.
Perhaps one to two hundred British come, in-
cluding Australians and New Zealanders, and
many of them are students. A number of Spani-
ards and Germans also come, but the majority of
the transient workers, excepting the Faroese, are
inexperienced.
Are they screened before coming or counted
on arrival? No. Visa abolition agreements have
been made between Iceland and most neighboring
countries, and a person doesn’t need to fill out a
registration card unless the origin of the country
concerned requires a visa. Also a special agree-
ment exists among the Scandinavian countries
under which a person may travel freely for three
months in Scandinavia without the usual passport
control.
Iceland’s Aliens’ law requires that a person
have a work permit if he enters the country to
work. This permit is granted to the employer
after consulting the union concerned. If there is
no work permit, the applicant can be denied ad-
mittance. The Minister of Social Affairs has the
authority to grant a permit with or without the
consent of the unions. Without a permit, an ap-
plicant may say, as many do, that he comes as
a tourist with the idea of looking for work. In
that case, of course, he can stay up to three
months here, provided he can support himself —
hence the small quarters often occupied by tourist-
workers.
What do the unions think about foreign work-
ers? Provided there are enough jobs for every-
one, the unions make no complaints. Most skilled-
worker jobs are advertised abroad and permits
forwarded, but the majority who come without
permits are unskilled workers.
Up till now foreign workers have not been
taking jobs from Icelanders, but there are fewer
jobs to he had than before. Little friction develops
between workers because of superior skill of the
foreigners. Usually the foreign worker is less ef-
ficient and less trained in the way things are done
in Iceland. What friction might develop may he
due to dating, but that is an individual matter
of which I know nothing, he said.
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