Two hundred kilometres above the Arctic Circle hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers are finding a new life in northern Norway, but recently the doors have been shutting on those desperate to start fresh in the High North.
With the Arctic becoming an object of steadily growing attention, Murmansk Oblast establishes the “Arctic University” to prepare Barents students for jobs in Arctic oil and gas projects.
Members of the LGBT community in Murmansk speak out about living in a country where the government has declared them an enemy of the state. One organization is reaching out to help youth and adults overcome the stigma and prejudice of homosexuality and live openly. But some are finding escape from Russia is the only way to gain freedom.
As Syrian refugees in the hundreds cross over from Russia, capacities in Kirkenes reach the limits. Now an abandoned military compound is turned into refugee reception center.
President Vladimir Putin today honoured participants of last years North Pole expeditions with medals. We are happy that we executed the task for the Motherland now we will not leave the Arctic, expedition leader Artur Chilingarov said to the president.
The regional administration in Murmansk has initiated the elaboration of a new action programme on indigenous peoples’ issues in the region. The programme is to help strengthen the sustainable economic and social development of the region’s indigenous groups, the administration underlines.
The city of Murmansk has been ranked the third best medium-sized city in Russia in a new study on life conditions from the Russian Institute of Urban Economics.
Unemployment in the county of Troms, northern Norway, was up 67 percent year-on-year in March. Still, unemployment in the region is on a modest three percent level.
Church leaders from all over the Barents Region this week assembled in Bodø, Norway, to discuss the churches’ response to challenges in the High North.
A total of 76 people are registered with swine flu in Norway, a doubling in one week. In the northern city of Tromsø, three new cases were registered this week.
