Iceland review - 2015, Qupperneq 59

ICELAND REVIEW 57
than those of inhabitants in the capital
region, a recent survey by Jóhanna María
Jónsdóttir, which is part of her B.Sc. thesis
in economics at Bifröst University, con-
cluded. The number of asylum seekers in
Reykjanesbær reached 200 at one point,
a relatively high number given the town’s
population of 14,500.
Reykjavík is now responsible for single
male applicants for asylum, which means
that the young men who used to reside
in Reykjanesbær have now moved to the
capital. Mayor of Reykjanesbær Kjartan
Már Kjartansson said in an interview with
Fréttablaðið in February that the single men
“had an impact on the town’s atmosphere.”
Navid was among the first asylum seek-
ers to be relocated from Reykjanesbær
to Reykjavík. He says that while living in
Reykjanesbær was difficult, he understands
why local residents may react negatively. “I
don’t want to say people are racist, because
I don’t know how I would react if I was in
their shoes. Keflavík is a small town with
few people. Sometimes the guys at FIT
[Hostel] would go to Bónus [supermarket]
together. From the Icelandic perspective,
what you see is a group of people—three,
four, five, six or maybe even seven people,
maybe from the Middle East, maybe black.
Maybe to them they look like a gang or
something. People think ‘what are they
doing here?’” he says.
It’s the same situation when asylum seek-
ers visit the social services office to pick up
their weekly allowance, he says. “The pub-
lic don’t know how much [money] we get.
People just think ‘bloody refugees.’ They
just see us all going to get our money. I
understand why they think that.” However,
Navid says all he hopes for is to be consid-
ered equal. “Now I can say that I’m almost
equal. Now I’m working and no one can
say: ‘You came here to take our taxes.’ You
know what? I did not come here to take
your taxes.”
With a larger, more diverse population,
life in the capital has been easier, he says.
“In Reykjavík I could be a tourist and
who reacts badly to tourists?” he quips.
Ali agrees. “It’s completely different in
Reykjavík. In Keflavík, everyone knows
you’re an asylum seeker but in Reykjavík
there are a lot more foreigners. There’s
also a lot more to do.” Ali says he has made
some Icelandic friends and has kept in
touch with some of the other asylum seek-
ers and refugees.
Thirty-six-year-old Feriane Amrouni says
she too understands that Icelanders may
be reluctant to welcome asylum seekers.
“Maybe people think I’m like this or like
that but I respect everyone—of all coun-
tries and religions. I do understand, though,
that immigration and asylum seekers are
new for Iceland.” Feriane left Algeria in
2013 with her seven-year-old daughter and
three-year-old son. She arrived in Iceland
pregnant, giving birth to her second daugh-
ter six months later. “It was difficult for me
to leave but like all mothers my priority is
my children and their future. Peace is the
dream of everyone in the world. Before I
had children I worked as a journalist but
you can’t say a word against the govern-
ment. In Algeria there’s also no freedom
for women.”
FUTURE HOPES AND DREAMS
Feriane’s future in Iceland remains uncer-
tain but she says having to leave Iceland
would be very difficult. “We’ve been here
for two years waiting for a decision, mak-
ing friends, going to school, learning the
language, acclimatizing to the Icelandic
climate and to get a negative would be...
Inshallah we get a positive. We have plans
for the future. Perhaps my older daughter
will become a lawyer, my son a doctor and
my youngest daughter a journalist. I feel all
this is possible here in Iceland. I will fight
until the end,” she says.
Now that Ali has received protection
in Iceland he says his priority is to find
work. “I need to get a job so I can support
myself, pay my rent, buy my food...” In Iraq
he studied computer science but he says
he’s looking for any job now. He has been
studying Icelandic and has been invited to a
job interview in April.
Navid too has hopes for the future. “I
want to study, I want to get my license, to
drive like everyone else. I want to go to
school,” he says, adding that he worries that
he is too old since he missed out on proper
schooling as a child in Iran, having grown
up in a refugee settlement. “But most of all
I want to be equal. That is the reason I left
Iran … I just want a ‘normal’ life.” *
Zoë Robert works with asylum seekers in Iceland as
a Red Cross volunteer. She has previously worked
with refugee children resettled in Australia.
ASYLUM