The government apologizes to the reindeer herders in Fosen for the licensing decisions, which involve violations of human rights. They have a significant negative impact on the ability of Sami reindeer herders in Fosen to cultivate their culture. This happened because the Supreme Court found that the decisions taken in 2013 did not contain satisfactory mitigating measures to ensure the compatibility of the decisions with human rights.
On Thursday, Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland and Agriculture and Food Minister Sandra Borch met with some reindeer herders in Fosen and representatives of the Norske Reindriftsamers Landsforbund and apologized to them on behalf of the government. In addition, the ministers also met with the President of the Sámi Parliament Silje Karine Muotka. At this meeting, Aasland repeated his apology.
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“The Sami reindeer herders in Fosen have long been in a difficult and unclear situation. I am sorry about this and therefore regret that the licensing decisions involve a violation of human rights, as they will have a significant negative impact on the reindeer herders' ability to cultivate their culture in Fosen, says Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland.
The government is now working to find solutions
In 2013, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy issued a license for under the Act for the construction and operation of several wind farms in Fosen and the Snillfjord area. In the case of the Storheia and Roan sites, the Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that the licensing decisions were invalid because they violated the right of Sami reindeer herders to cultivate their culture. The reason for this was that sufficient mitigation measures had not been put in place. The government is now working to find solutions that will protect the rights of reindeer herders. The new decision must be examined to provide an up-to-date, good professional basis so that these decisions will be valid in the future.
Immediately after the Supreme Court's judgment, the Ministry of Oil and Energy began work on finding a new solution in this case. The wind companies submitted their comments to the investigation in February 2022. Several consultations and talks followed with the reindeer herders and the Sámi parliament, but it was not decided how the investigations were to be conducted.
We must make decisions that protect the rights of the Sami people
— The Supreme Court assumes that licensing decisions are invalid. This means that we must make new decisions that protect the rights of the Sámi people. The Supreme Court, however, says nothing about what will happen to the windmills. We've been working to find out since Fall 2021 and it's not satisfactory that we haven't found a solution for so long. I am interested in making progress on this now, says Aasland.
“What happens depends on what the research shows. The aim is to find a solution that will secure reindeer herding rights. This is work on which several ministries are working closely together. We do not rule out any solutions, says the Minister of Oil and Energy.
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Source: regjeringen
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