From Iceland — Immigration System "Must Be Reviewed"

Immigration System “Must Be Reviewed”

Published January 13, 2016

Andie Sophia Fontaine
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One of the main organisers who helped bring two Albanian families back to Iceland believes the immigration system needs to be examined.

Both Albanian families who sought asylum in Iceland, were subsequently deported but then awarded citizenship, have finally returned. While the families were happy to be back in Iceland, the father in one of the families, Pellumb Ndoka, expressed mixed emotions about the Icelandic government and was not pleased with the treatment his family received from them.

“Some parts of the government treated us badly, but not all of them,” he told reporters. “But now it’s been straightened out, and we are grateful for that.”

Pellumb’s son, who has a serious heart condition, will receive a medical examination in the coming days. His condition necessitates surgery, and was the main reason the family sought asylum in Iceland in the first place.

Hermann Ragnarsson, who has been one of the main spokespeople for the family and worked hard to get them established in Iceland, told reporters the matter reflects the need to critically examine the immigration system.

“These rules, and the people who are working by them, need to be fixed so that there can be exceptions made in cases such as this,” he told reporters. “Hopefully such changes will bring with it how cases such as [families such as this] are handled. I hope so anyway.”

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