Stavanger offers extra food to refugees staying at the Thon Hotel in Stavanger to top up the grant the refugees receive from the state.
- Those who need it will get food. I fully understand that it is difficult to live on the state subsidy which is based on 2016 rates. No refugee living in our city should go hungry, says the acting mayor of Dagna Sunnanå Hausken.
NOK 2044 per month
In recent days, we have seen media reports of refugees queuing for food at the Open Hands For You volunteer organization in Hillevåg. The support that refugees receive from the state, amounting to NOK 2044 per month for food, clothing and transport, is insufficient. For this reason, refugees are in despair.
Rates for refugees staying in emergency departments come from 2016. Acting Deputy Mayor Dag Mossige asked, inter alia, to the Directorate for Immigration (UDI) to raise rates as food prices rise. The request was sent in June after the church counselor in Stavanger informed the community about the situation in a letter. Mossige was the mayor at the time.
Until further notice, the community has now taken matters into its own hands and is offering food aid to refugees.
It is difficult to buy enough food
- The food aid scheme applies to refugees who live in the emergency department of the Thon Hotel in Stavanger. They are in a particularly difficult situation because the livelihoods of emergency room residents are so low that it is difficult for refugees to buy enough food, says Eli Karin Fosse, director of health and social services.
The refugee health team will distribute food to residents at reception once a week. It is all about staple foods such as fruit, vegetables, meat, rice and pasta to ensure a nutritious and varied diet.
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Refugees living privately in the so-called AMOT (alternative admission place) are entitled to a municipal living allowance at rates corresponding to the rates of social assistance, if they have no other income. They can go to the NAV office in the district where they live and make a claim if they are not already receiving this benefit.
Source: Stavanger Municipality
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