ヨーロッパでは、安住の地を求めて大勢の難民が避難してきている。しかし、ノルウェーにたどり着いた難民は、人間よりホッキョクグマが多い北極圏の島へと送られるかもしれない。
ホッキョクグマの方が多い北極圏の島、スヴァールバル諸島に難民を送ることを提案しているのは、ノルウェーの「緑の環境党」だ。現在、島の人口は2,600人で3,000頭いるホッキョクグマよりも少ないため、難民を受け入れると人口を増やせる。
スヴァールバル諸島のホッキョクグマ
スヴァールバル島はノルウェーの一部だが、EU内の自由な移動を保証する「シェンゲン協定」の対象地域外となっている。そのため島の知事は、遠く離れたスヴァールバル島に難民を収容するのが合法かどうか調査している。
緑の環境党・スヴァールバル諸島代表のエスペン・クラングセス・ ロテバン氏は、ノルウェーの新聞「ヴァート・ランド」に「難民のための施設を作ることで、雇用を創出できます。しかしそれは波及効果にすぎず、私たちの目的ではありません」と話す。
ロテバン氏は、難民の受け入れを増やすことで石炭産業を含む地域の経済が活性化されるだろうとしながらも「ヨーロッパは今大変な事態になっていて、今こそ私たちの価値と倫理規範が問われている」と述べる。
ノルウェーのはるか北、北極圏に位置するスヴァールバル諸島
スヴァールバル諸島を難民の受け入れ先として考えているのは、緑の環境党だけではない。難民に厳しい政党として知られる「進歩党」も、スヴァールバル諸島を難民の受け入れ候補地に挙げていた。
同党のクリスチャン・イークランド氏は5月に「ノルウェーには受け入れの余地がありません。単刀直入に言えば、難民キャンプをスヴァールバル諸島に作ればいいのです」と述べ、ノルウェーが今後2年間で受け入れると合意した1万人の難民をスヴァールバル諸島に住まわせるべきだと主張している。
この進歩党の意見に対して緑の環境党は、スヴァールバル諸島だけに難民を避難させるのではなくノルウェー全体で受け入れるべきだと述べ、進歩党とは立場が違うこと表明した。広報担当者が次のように話している。
「スヴァールバル諸島の政治家たちは、難民たちに家や仕事を提供して助けたいと考えており、我々は、遠く離れた危険な北極の島に難民を押し付けようとする政治家とは、考えを異にしています」
「緑の環境党は難民問題を深く憂慮しており、彼らを助けるためにあらゆる手段を取るとイギリス政府に伝えたいと考えています」
「我々は、ヨーロッパの各国の中でも多い難民の割り当て人数を受け入れる、という議会の決定に賛同しています。また、それ以上の難民を受け入れるよう懸命に取り組んでいます」
「イギリスの政治家にも我々の考えを共有してもらい、地元の政治家を説得して共に難民を受け入れ、問題を解決するよう望んでいます」
この記事はハフポストUK版に掲載されたものを翻訳しました。
ドイツにやってきた難民の子供たち
Germany Migrants(01 of30)
Refugees and migrants arrive at the central station in Munich, southern Germany Sunday Sept. 13, 2015. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Germany Migrants(02 of30)
Refugees and migrants arrive at the central station in Munich, southern Germany Sunday Sept. 13, 2015. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Germany Migrants(03 of30)
Refugees and migrants arrive at the central station in Munich, southern Germany Sunday Sept. 13, 2015. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Germany Migrants(04 of30)
Migrants arrive from Munich at Schoenefeld train station near Berlin, Sunday Sept. 13, 2015. ( Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Germany Migrants(05 of30)
Migrants arrive from Munich at Schoenefeld train station near Berlin, Sunday Sept. 13, 2015. ( Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Germany Migrants(06 of30)
Migrants arrive from Munich at Schoenefeld train station near Berlin, Sunday Sept. 13, 2015. ( Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Germany Migrants(07 of30)
A refugee woman from Syria carries a bag with personal things on top of her head, at a tent village for migrants at the Donnersberg bridge close to the central train station in Munich, Germany, Sunday Sept. 13, 2015. Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and others are still making their way slowly across Europe, seeking shelter where they can, taking a bus or a train where one is available, walking where it isn\'t. (Andreas Gebert/dpa via AP) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
GERMANY-EUROPE-MIGRANTS(08 of30)
A little refugee boy is given a typical Bavarian pretzel after he arrived with his family at the main train station in Munich, southern Germany, September 07, 2015.The numbers of migrants have spiked since September 4, 2015, when Austria and Germany threw open their borders and eased travel restrictions to allow in thousands who had made it to Hungary, which has balked at the influx. AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOF STACHE (Photo credit should read CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:CHRISTOF STACHE via Getty Images)
GERMANY-EUROPE-MIGRANTS(09 of30)
A helper and a migrant girl from Syria laugh in \'Bayernkaserne\', where donations for refugess have been collected, in Munich, southern Germany, on September 9, 2015. Hundres of refugees arrive daily in Munich and the border region of Germany. AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOF STACHE (Photo credit should read CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:CHRISTOF STACHE via Getty Images)
GERMANY-EUROPE-MIGRANTS(10 of30)
A helper puts a shoe at a leg of a migrant girl from Syria in \'Bayernkaserne\', where donations for refugess have been collected, in Munich, southern Germany, on September 9, 2015. Hundres of refugees arrive daily in Munich and the border region of Germany. AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOF STACHE (Photo credit should read CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:CHRISTOF STACHE via Getty Images)
GERMANY-EUROPE-MIGRANTS(11 of30)
A helper and a migrant girl from Syria laugh in \'Bayernkaserne\', where donations for refugess have been collected, in Munich, southern Germany, on September 9, 2015. Hundres of refugees arrive daily in Munich and the border region of Germany. AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOF STACHE (Photo credit should read CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:CHRISTOF STACHE via Getty Images)
GERMANY-EUROPE-MIGRANTS(12 of30)
A migrant girl from Syria kisses her sister in \'Bayernkaserne\', where donations for refugess have been collected, in Munich, southern Germany, on September 9, 2015. Hundres of refugees arrive daily in Munich and the border region of Germany. AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOF STACHE (Photo credit should read CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:CHRISTOF STACHE via Getty Images)
HUNGARY-AUSTRIA-MIGRATION(13 of30)
Migrants smile as they wait to depart a transit zone on a public bus to the Hungarian border village Hegyeshalom early in the morning in Budapest on September 5, 2015. The first buses carrying migrants who have been stranded in the Hungarian capital set off for Austria and Germany early after they agreed to receive thousands of refugees desperate to start new lives in Western Europe. AFP PHOTO/ ATTILA KISBENEDEK (Photo credit should read ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:ATTILA KISBENEDEK via Getty Images)
Refugees at Vienna's Westbahnhof train station(14 of30)
VIENNA, AUSTRIA - SEPTEMBER 7: A woman gives food to refugees board a train leaving Vienna to Munich at the Westbahnhof train station in Vienna, Austria on September 07, 2015. Refugees, mostly from Syria and Afghanistan, arrived in Vienna after Hungary opened its borders with Austria allowing refugees to leave the country and they will continue their journey onward to Germany. (Photo by Christoph Schlessmann/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
GERMANY-EUROPE-MIGRANTS(15 of30)
A helper prepares a toy for a migrant child after migrants arrived at the main railway station in Munich, southern Germany, on September 06, 2015. Germany on Sunday prepared for more refugees to arrive from Hungary via Austria, a day after thousands were greeted, often by volunteers holding signs that read \'Welcome to Germany\'. But calls grew for a European solution to its worst refugee crisis since World War II. AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOF STACHE (Photo credit should read CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:CHRISTOF STACHE via Getty Images)
GERMANY-EUROPE-MIGRANTS(16 of30)
A young refugee boy looks out of a bus window reflecting the German nation flag after he arrived at the main train station in Munich, southern Germany, on September 05, 2015. Hundreds of refugees arrived in Germany on September 5, 2015 coming from Hungary and Austria. AFP PHOTO / CHRISTOF STACHE (Photo credit should read CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:CHRISTOF STACHE via Getty Images)
Germany Migrants(17 of30)
A child plays football in the accommodation for refugees and migrants , in the exhibition halls of the trade fair Messe Erfurt, in Erfurt, Germany, Friday, Sept. 11, 2015. More than 700 refugees live there at the moment. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Germany Migrants(18 of30)
Refugee children have fun on a merry-go-round in Dortmund, Germany, Monday, Aug. 31, 2015. The children were invited by the city to a local fun fair. While Germany is preparing to accept at least 800,000 migrants this year, other European countries have not agreed to accept such large numbers of migrants. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Germany Migrants(19 of30)
A child watches police prior to the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to a refugee shelter that was attacked by far-right protesters over the weekend in Heidenau, near Dresden, eastern Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015. ( Arno Burgi/dpa via AP) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Germany Migrants(20 of30)
A child plays next to security prior to the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the refugee shelter that was attacked by far-right protesters over the weekend in Heidenau, eastern Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
SERBIA-EUROPE-MIGRANTS(21 of30)
Migrants and refugee children wait near a registration camp in the southern Serbian town of Presevo on September 11, 2015. A record 5,000 migrants have arrived at Serbia\'s border with Hungary over the past 24 hours, a television report said on September 10. Some 3,000 of them have already entered into Hungary, the state RTS television said. Most of the migrants are moving through Hungary on their way to Germany and other northern countries where they hope to win asylum. Some 50 buses transporting around 2,500 migrants as well as three trains with around 3,000 others left on September 9 to 10 overnight from Gevgelija, on the Macedonian side of its border with Greece towards Serbia, according to AFP journalists. The EU unveiled plans to take 160,000 refugees from overstretched border states, as the United States said it would accept more Syrians to ease the pressure from the worst migration crisis since World War II. AFP PHOTO / ARMEND NIMANI (Photo credit should read ARMEND NIMANI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:ARMEND NIMANI via Getty Images)
MACEDONIA-GREECE-EUROPE-MIGRANTS(22 of30)
A migrant woman walks with her children on rail tracks as they cross the border between Greece and Macedonia near the town of Gevgelija on September 10, 2015. Europe was increasingly divided over its refugee crisis as record numbers of migrants streamed through the Balkans into Hungary, forcing Austria to suspend cross-border train services. Germany warned that an EU plan to distribute 160,000 new arrivals among member states was a mere \'drop in the ocean\', but it faces stiff opposition from eastern members who say they will not accept binding quotas from Brussels. AFP PHOTO / ROBERT ATANASOVSKI (Photo credit should read ROBERT ATANASOVSKI/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:ROBERT ATANASOVSKI via Getty Images)
GERMANY-EUROPE-MIGRANTS(23 of30)
Refugee child shows the victory sign after her arrival at the railway station in Schoeneberg, near Berlin, on September 10, 2015. Germany is expecting to welcome 800,000 asylum-seekers this year, four times more than last year and far more than any other European country. AFP PHOTO / DPA / PATRICK PLEUL +++ GERMANY OUT (Photo credit should read PATRICK PLEUL/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:PATRICK PLEUL via Getty Images)
A DFB Delegation Visits The Refugee Camp Egelsbach(24 of30)
EGELSBACH, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 09: Refugee children waiting for the DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach at the refugee camp egelsbach on September 9, 2015 in Egelsbach, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Scheuber/Bongarts/Getty Images) (credit:Alexander Scheuber via Getty Images)
Germany Protests(25 of30)
Children of refugees hold pieces of paper in front of the accommodation for immigrants in Freital near Dresden, eastern Germany, Friday, June 26, 2015. The words read: \'Thank you Germany to be here\'. Members of Pegida, the right-wing movement that staged regular rallies in Dresden and elsewhere against immigrants and Muslims, helped initiate protests and demonstrated against the arrival of the first refugee families. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Germany Distributes Arriving Migrants Nationwide(26 of30)
BERLIN, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 07: A boy plays at a short-term housing facility for arriving migrants and refugees in Spandau district on September 7, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin authorities erected the new tent camp, now with a capacity for 1,600 people, last week in a hasty effort to deal with new migrants, at least 300 of whom arrived by bus early this morning and more are expected today and in coming days. Approximately 20,000 migrants, mostly traveling via Hungary, arrived in Germany by train in the last 48 hours and a further 10,000 are expected today. Authorities are distributing them to registration centers and shelters nationwide. (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images) (credit:Carsten Koall via Getty Images)
Germany Distributes Arriving Migrants Nationwide(27 of30)
BERLIN, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 07: A child grabs to balloons at a short-term housing facility for arriving migrants and refugees in Spandau district on September 7, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin authorities erected the new tent camp, now with a capacity for 1,600 people, last week in a hasty effort to deal with new migrants, at least 300 of whom arrived by bus early this morning and more are expected today and in coming days. Approximately 20,000 migrants, mostly traveling via Hungary, arrived in Germany by train in the last 48 hours and a further 10,000 are expected today. Authorities are distributing them to registration centers and shelters nationwide. (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images) (credit:Carsten Koall via Getty Images)
Refugees at Vienna's Westbahnhof train station(28 of30)
VIENNA, AUSTRIA - SEPTEMBER 7: Refugees, mostly from Syria and Afghanistan, arrive at the Westbahnhof train station in Vienna, Austria on September 07, 2015. Refugees arrived in Vienna after Hungary opened its borders with Austria allowing refugees to leave the country and they will continue their journey onward to Germany. (Photo by Christoph Schlessmann/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
France Migrants(29 of30)
Volunteers give toys to children refugees from Syria and Irak after they arrive at the Hubert Renaud centre in Cergy-Pontoise near Paris, France, Wednesday Sept.9, 2015. The groups is the first among around 1,000 that French President Francois Hollande pledged to receive from the neighboring country Germany. (Jacky Naegelen, pool via AP) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Migrants Seeking Asylum Arrive In Berlin(30 of30)
BERLIN, GERMANY - AUGUST 27: A young migrant boy from Syria blows soap bubbles as other migrants seeking asylum in Germany wait to register at the Central Registration Office for Asylum Seekers (Zentrale Aufnahmestelle fuer Asylbewerber, or ZAA) of the State Office for Health and Social Services (Landesamt fuer Gesundheit und Soziales, or LAGeSo) on August 27, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. The Berlin office is one of many across Germany where migrants receive initial registration papers before they are sent to shelters while their asylum applications are processed. Germany is expecting to receive 800,000 migrants and refugees this year and is struggling to cope with the record number. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) (credit:Sean Gallup via Getty Images)
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