The Norwegian immigration agency broke the law when it granted residency permits to nearly 200 Iraqi Kurds

Nina Berglund:

The agency in charge of immigration to Norway (UDI) violated both the law and political directives when it granted residency permits to nearly 200 Iraqi Kurds last fall. A commission that's probed the controversial permits blasted the former head of UDI, and his successor has resigned.

News of the granting of the permits set off a political storm when it broke in March, and a commission was set up to investigate the agency, formally known as the Directorate of Immigration, or UDI (Utlendingsdirektoratet).

The commission unveiled its findings Monday morning, and they were harsh in their evaluation of practices at the agency, which was headed at the time by Trygve Nordby. He later resigned to take over as head of the Norwegian Red Cross and was succeeded by UDI's second-in-command, Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen.

She was only in the job a few weeks before being forced into taking a leave of absence when the investigation was launched. The commission held Nordby primarily responsible for the illegal granting of the permits, but concluded that Osmundsen was aware of the situation and failed to object. She has now resigned.

It was reported over the weekend that UDI employees long have worked under a climate of fear, and dared not criticize or challenge the agency's leadership.

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

Immigration officials in Norway have granted temporary residence permission to the mother-in-law of Mullah Krekar