Two hundred kilometres above the Arctic Circle hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers are finding a new life in northern Norway, but recently the doors have been shutting on those desperate to start fresh in the High North.
With the Arctic becoming an object of steadily growing attention, Murmansk Oblast establishes the “Arctic University” to prepare Barents students for jobs in Arctic oil and gas projects.
Members of the LGBT community in Murmansk speak out about living in a country where the government has declared them an enemy of the state. One organization is reaching out to help youth and adults overcome the stigma and prejudice of homosexuality and live openly. But some are finding escape from Russia is the only way to gain freedom.
As Syrian refugees in the hundreds cross over from Russia, capacities in Kirkenes reach the limits. Now an abandoned military compound is turned into refugee reception center.
Despite positive trends in the Finnish labour market, unemployment figures remain high in the northern part of the country. In the province of Lapland, unemployment rates stand at 11,1 percent.
- Because of reasons unknown to us, the Russian foreign ministry has decided that the Sedov won’t be allowed to call at harbours in Norway, says Murmansk State Technical University.
Johanna Korhonen, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Lapin Kansa in Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland, has been sacked just weeks after she was hired for the job. The reason is that she is lesbian.
The population in northern Norway is on the increase. In the first three months of the year, the regional population increased with more than 500 people, which is the best result in years.
Just a week after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev introduced the re-written law on Russian non-governmental organizations, the law passed the State Duma in the first reading.
The Russian Migration Service has registered a sharp decline in the number of Russians moving abroad. At the same time, the number of Russians resettling inside Russia is increasing.
The Russian government has approved the financial part of five Russia-EU cross-border programmes. The government approval does however not include the Baltic Sea CBC agreement which originally was to be adopted last year.
