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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

44

Bjorn hung off his coat in the hallway before going into the living room, leaving Ante to clean and dice vegetables in the kitchen. He pulled out the crumpled copy of the Lundby Gazette from his pocket as he left his jacket behind, and sat down in the sofa next to the large window with a view of Lundby, half hidden behind the near hill.

A football match was playing on the TV in the corner, and Frank and Geir were sitting in front of it in their separate easy chairs, watching it while talking softly about Ane's factory. Bjorn did not bother to listen in on their conversation, un-crumpling the newspaper instead.

Bjorn scanned the article on the imminent influx of asylum seekers to Lundby until he reached the point were he had stopped reading it while down in the village, and while doing this he noticed how the grammar was much improved from the previous copy of the newspaper. This latest copy was far easier and more pleasant to read.

Reading on from where he had stopped, Bjorn learned that the old military airport would be opened the next week to handle the immigration, and that "special arrangements" were being put in place to make sure any criminal elements would be "identified and neutralized". There was no mention, however, of what exactly the special arrangements and neutralization entailed.

This was all new to Bjorn, and curious to know how much of this was known to his colleagues, he asked Frank about the airport and the screening that evidently was going to take place down there.

"Yep, that's true," Frank replied. "The airport is going to open on Thursday, and we will have to go down there on Wednesday to make sure everything is in order."
"And what about the special arrangements put in place for the immigrants?" Bjorn asked.
"I have no idea. As long as they do not break the terms of our agreement, it's all up to them what they do with the refugees."
"And what exactly are these terms?"
"I believe they agreed to comply with the UN rules on the matter. Isn't that so Geir?"
Geir nodded. "Which leaves the field wide open, apparently," he added. "You've seen how they are treating the people already there, haven't you?"
"And now they're going to add another layer of misery to it all?" Bjorn asked rhetorically.
"Apparently," Geir answered. "But on the up side, I'm sure that will cut down even more on how many people come to Norway begging for asylum."

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