Iceland review - 2016, Page 41

looking for work and other necessary
assistance.
Resettling in a foreign country comes
with numerous challenges, especially
for refugees, as Hrafnhildur explained
at a seminar about refugee reception
in September. “In many cases they are
experiencing security for the first time in
years. They have no family or social net-
work here [in Iceland], few understand
their language. Many have been fleeing
for many years, some have lived in camps
for many years,” she said. From her
experience, refugees are thankful for the
shelter and assistance they receive but
often don’t want to feel they are being
helped too much or are too dependent
on someone else. “Sometimes they may
get overwhelmed or even upset. They
may be angry that they had to leave
everything behind and seek refuge in
another country, often burdening them
with survivor’s guilt,” she said; adding
that often they have had to leave relatives
and loved ones behind.
Nicole Mignon Dubus, a US expert on
refugees who has been providing advice
to Icelandic stakeholders on successfully
welcoming and integrating refugees into
local communities, highlighted during a
recent visit to the country the difficulties
of being a refugee—especially for adults,
as children often integrate and learn a
new language more easily.
Project manager for refugees in
Akureyri municipality, Kristín Sóley
Sigursveinsdóttir, emphasizes that while
refugees receive all sorts of assistance, it’s
important to let them make their own
decisions. “They are in control of their
own lives. We guide them but we don’t
make decisions for them.” Experts work-
ing in the field in Iceland agree that they
learnt a lot from Dubus’ visit, including,
Kristín says, that the real results of a
refugee resettlement program cannot be
measured in a year or two, but rather in
20 years’ time. The importance of treat-
ing refugees as individuals rather than as
a group was also emphasized, she adds.
It’s also good to let new arrivals
adjust to their new surroundings with-
out rushing them into school or work,
Hrafnhildur stresses. This sentiment is
echoed by Karen Theodórsdóttir, pro-
ject manager for refugees in the town of
Hafnarfjörður, which is also set to receive
several Syrian families. “First we have to
let people land and get their bearings.
Moving between countries can be very
difficult. We can’t say ‘OK, you have to
wake up at 6:30, go to school, language
classes...’ give them a full program. It’s
one step at a time. The children won’t
start school right away. They’ll get a
few weeks to settle in first. Experience
has shown us that it’s best to wait a few
weeks. There will be so many new things
to learn.” Some of the children have not
attended school in many years.
In their first days in Iceland, Khattab
and his family spent time visiting the
local supermarket—they found most of
what they were looking for, Khattab tells
me—as well as the swimming pool and
hot tubs and playing in the snow.
Originally, another three families—12
children and eight adults—were expected
to arrive in Iceland with the first group in
January and resettle in Hafnarfjörður,
but two chose not accept the resettle-
ment offer, while the other had to delay
its arrival so the mother, who was heavily
pregnant, could give birth. They are now
expected to arrive in March.
GROUNDSWELL OF SUPPORT
Iceland has been resettling small num-
bers of refugees in cooperation with the
UNHCR since 1956, when 52 people
from Hungary arrived. All in all, Iceland
has resettled 584 refugees. Over the
years, UNHCR has urged Iceland to
increase its intake. Each of the three
municipalities which were on standby
SYRIANS
Saaid 17
Reem 18
Halima 37
Khattab 47
Noufa 67