The number of people granted classified asylum in Norway has risen substantially in recent years. According to a report published by The Foreigner news agency, the Norwegian government has given the status to 1,857 individuals since 2004. In 2012, a total of 775 applications for classified asylum were processed. Asylum seekers that are ‘classified’ are unable to be tracked or researched by anyone that does not have direct ties with the individual, including immigration and police authorities, tax investigators and the Ministry of Justice.
According to officials from the Directorate of Immigration (UDI), a large portion of those that are classified have worked as, or worked with, Norwegian diplomats, with the status recommended by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ingeborg Grimsmo, communications director for the UDI, told the media, “Afghans currently make up a large part of this group, including cases of Afghan interpreters who have sought asylum in Norway. There have previously been many from Iraq,” The Foreigner reports.