Letter from Inhabitant of Lier ventemottak, 9 April 2009

If you haven’t already heard of the “Lier ventemottak”, here is a short story to give you an idea.This is an example of what the residents of this particular camp go through twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

In short, it’s because we have got a final rejection concerning our asylum case that we live in here. The objective of the camp was to provide us a roof over our head, and three meals a days.

As the residents of the camp are going through a difficult time, they would have expected comfort and support from the staff. And yes it’s a challenging and demanding role, so that’s why a very qualified staff is needed. Some of the staff (ex-asylum seekers themselves) work in the reception and the majority of us feel close to them and hoped they would understand us. But unfortunately the feeling isn’t reciproque.

Every thing they do is to drive us crazy. And if by any chance we complain about something, the staff get upset. It may sound ridiculous but this is a fact. One week ago an inhabitant went to the reception to ask what was wrong with the Internet connection. The answer he received was: “we are waiting for fax”. It is an excuse we have been hearing the last 4 or so months, and this was for sure a way to disturb our psychology. We wonder how long it can take to receive a fax, one hour, maybe two, or let’s even say three.

They laugh at us and tell us to break things if we are not happy here. Some of them will tell you they don’t care about the camp, even though it’s their work place and they get a salary at the end of the month. They don’t need to take care of us but a least their job.

Even those who were previously asylum seekers look down on us.

Anyways the Internet is gone now since that incident, and we have been told there will not be any wireless connection. So that means all of the residents will have to share ONE computer between them. It can not get any worse than this, and still there is no one to complain to.

Internet which is nowadays accessible in the busses, trains etc…

Internet which is our only companion where we chat with friends and family and make new friends.

Internet which is where we get information written in our own language about our homelands.

Internet which is the only mean we could use to cry for help to the outside world.

All of that is gone. They want us to feel less than human, but we don‘t. Besides we are better than them as we would never ever treat them the way they are treating us.

The things that are happening in Lier ventemottak is making NORWAY the biggest irony: mental slavery in the home of the Nobel peace prize.

We will never give up hope and wait until change comes.

"THE DISTURBING PEN", inhabitant of Lier ventemottak