Pakistanis in Norway

By  ATLE HETLAND

      “I am a Norwegian citizen, but I also feel at home in my parents’ country of origin and that of my wife”, Atilla A. Iftikhar Warraich says. They all come from Gujrat, but for the last few years Atilla has lived with his wife and young children in Islamabad. He is the Chairman of Pakistan-Norway Association (PANA), a friendship association for Norwegians, Pakistani-Norwegians, Pakistanis and others, with most of its modest activities in Islamabad.

        Atilla’s father emigrated to Norway in 1971, and a few years later his wife joined him and the three children are all born in the adopted home country, in the prosperous city of Stavanger on the southwest coast of Norway. The city forms the main hub for the country’s offshore oil exploration activities, and the surrounding land is among the best form agriculture in Norway, also thanks to the mild and rainy weather.

        There are over 30,000 Norwegian citizens of Pakistani origin in Norway, and about two-thirds of them come from Gujrat District. In the 1960s and 70s when the Pakistanis had ‘discovered Norway’, it was easy to enter the country. There were no visa requirements and valid passport sufficed. Today, there are all kinds of scrutinizing of newcomers, and usually only close relatives and spouses are admitted.

        Norway’s neighbour to the south has about 20,000 citizens of Pakistani origin and Sweden, to the east, about 10,000. Most live in the capitals an larger cities, and downtown Oslo, for example, a number of shopkeepers and restaurant workers and owners are of Pakistani origin. You can easily get around using Urudu only, or even Gujrati-Punjabi! In addition there are about 10,000 Afghans in Norway, and even larger groups from countries like Iran, Iraq and Turkey. In all, there are about 130,000 Muslims in Norway, where the majority is Christian, with more than 80 percent belonging to the state church. In Oslo, about 20 percent of the inhabitants are Muslims. 

      The Pakistani immigrants in Norway and the neighbouring Scandinavian countries are generally doing well, and they belong to mature immigrant communities since many came over a generation ago. A large group of Pakistani-Norwegian girls do particularly well at school and university, and in recent years, the boys have also realized that higher education is important to do well in a country like Norway. But the boys also focus on business and self-employment. However, it is not always easy to find solid footing in a new country for immigrants. Some Pakistani-Norwegians find it difficult in Norway and the dropout rate at upper secondary school is high. Some drift into gangs with antisocial and criminal activities. There is a challenge for the advanced Norwegian social services to find ways of helping such groups back into mainstream society.

Atle Hetland is a senior Norwegian social scientist currently based in Islamabad. atlehetland@yahoo.com