Words by

Nanna Árnadóttir

@nannaarnadottir

Photo by

Althingi.is

Iceland’s Interior Minister, Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir, has said that Iceland’s asylum application process takes too long, reports Vísir.

“I am of the opinion that the time it takes to process cases is too long,” said Hanna Birna. “Really it’s quite inexcusable… people are waiting here for up to two years which is unacceptable.”

Following petitions and public attention the Ministry of the Interior ruled on Mondaythat two Colombian women and a seven year old girl would be granted residency in Iceland on humanitarian grounds.

Hanna Birna says that going forward a new infrastructure – inspired by the Norwegian immigration model – will be put into place to optimise processing times.