Runde (Afdenboston): Minutes after Norway’s Suel Kassembo (35) is sent off. Now he has another chance.
In recent years, Sule Gasembo lived in Hero and worked at the Runde Miljocenter (background, right).
Short version
- Sule Gasembo (35) from Burundi has lived in Norway most of her life. He was close to being sent out of the country, but a temporary restraining order from the district court stopped this.
The summary was created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) and guaranteed quality by Aftenposten’s journalists.
– Is it fair to be sent out now that it has been documented that I have been telling the truth for a long time?
Sule Kazembo (35) from Burundi in Central Africa leaves the question hanging in the air. He has lived in Norway for more than half of his life, most of the years at the end of Sunmors beach. But in early August, he was minutes away from being deported.
However, the district court stayed one of the postings Temporary banTemporary banA decision made by a court in a civil case applies only for a limited period of time, usually until a trial is finally decided.. Kassembo’s case will now be heard in Oslo District Court on November 23.
The UDI doubted the story
Kasembo arrived in Norway as a stowaway on a ship. Civil war destroyed the homeland.
– I ran away because my childhood home was attacked. Father, mother and my sister were killed, he says.
as a consequence UDI At a time described as a “generally precarious security situation” in the country, asylum applications from Burundians were generally granted.
But the Norwegian authorities did not trust Gasembo. The suspicion stemmed, among other things, from speaking Swahili, not Kurundi, the dominant language in Burundi. UTI also thought he was 19 – not 16.
– I am from Buenzi District in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi. A minority there speak Swahili and are Muslims like me.
The identity documents proved him right
The case ended when the Norwegian authorities did not grant him residence.
But Kasembo was never forcibly deported.
Because the Norwegian authorities could never document that he came from another country. That’s why he ended up in the division Irrevocable. There is no country to send him back to.
But this year Kasembo was able to document through the Burundian embassy in Berlin that his age and nationality matched the description he had given since 2004.
The documents prompted a reaction from Norwegian authorities. The police stepped in, arrested him and sent him to an immigration detention center in Trandom for deportation to Burundi.
For more than ten years, Suel Gasembo has been working full-time at the Runde Miljocentre, which has, among other things, the Runde Treasure, an exhibition on the gold and silver coins found under the sea off Runde in 1972.
Lawyers: – A scam
The Immigration Board (Une) believes Kassembo has been in Norway illegally for 16 years. It believes he no longer needs protection in Burundi.
– Une writes in his reply to the Oslo District Court that he has no fear of persecution upon his return to Burundi.
Kazembo’s documents are now being used to extradite him to Burundi. This is the same country that the Norwegian authorities claimed was not his homeland when he arrived in Norway.
– A scam, lawyers say.
– What is special about this case is that he was here for so long without getting a temporary work permit without taking much action to get him out of the country, unable to falsify his story, the lawyer says. Malene Walkway Jensen.
She and attorney Trigwe Tweter are representing Kazembo. Tveter has worked on the case for more than 10 years. He believes the case shows how careless Norwegian immigration policy can be.
Jensen says Gasembo never got a real chance to leave Norway.
– Suel has lived in Norway for 19 years practically and legally irrevocably. At the same time, the immigration authorities could not grant him a legal residence permit.
Work and pay taxes
Despite not having a legal residence permit, Gasembo has worked full-time for most of her time in Norway.
She has volunteered as a visiting friend at an old age home and for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Later, through Now, she volunteered at the Runde Miljosenter. He was working as a laborer there recently.
Nils Rohr Hareit, senior researcher at the Runde Miljocentre, said many people in the local community were involved in the case of Suel Gasembo.
– We have played with open cards with police and tax officials. Here he has a full-time job, he gets paid and pays the taxes he owes, says Nils Rør Haride at the Runde Miljosenter.
The immigration board approves this, but notes that he never had permission to work in Norway.
– So this relationship cannot be given importance, the Tribunal believes.
Collecting for testing
After the Oslo District Court halted the eviction, Kasembo now has a new chance to overturn the 16-year-old decision. He shall bear all the costs of the investigation.
He gets help from a support group in the local environment. So far, around NOK 400,000 has been collected through spleis and support concerts.
He says he has no relatives or acquaintances in Burundi.
– If I had believed in myself when I came to Norway, I would have progressed in life. Now this matter lies in the head all the time.
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