Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen, the new director of Norway's embattled immigration agency, has gone on administrative leave

Nina Berglund:

Ramin-Osmundsen will be on leave until May 15, when an independent investigation of the agency's controversial decision to grant residence permission to 182 Iraqi Kurds is expected to be complete.

Ramin-Osmundsen, who took over as director of the immigration agency (Utlendingsdirektoratet, UDI) in March, had initially intended to lead the investigation herself. That changed, after her predecessor charged that she was aware of the controversial residency decision last autumn and had several opportunities to oppose it.

Ramin-Osmundsen earlier had indicated she knew nothing of the decision until mid-March.

The investigation will now be led by Hans Petter Graver, a law professor from Oslo. Graver will be joined by Bjørn Solbakken, a court official from Haugesund, and Inger Johanne Sundby, a senior consultant from Oslo.

Their task is to find out how UDI came about its decision to let 182 Iraqi Kurds remain in Norway, allegedly in defiance of the political will of the outgoing government last fall. Among the would-be refugees was the mother-in-law of Mullah Krekar, who himself faces a deportation order because he's been deemed a threat to national security in Norway.

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