Thirty one refugees will arrive in Iceland over the next two weeks, a seven person family from Kosovo and 24 women and children from Columbia. According to the Morgunbladid the Icelandic Red Cross is busy preparing for the arrivals.
“Volunteers have renovated housing for the refugees and the Red Cross will provide furniture and other necessities,” said Atli Vidar Thorstensen, project manager for the Red Cross. He says that the children will go to Auturbæjarskóli and the teenagers to the Trade School in Reykjavik. The adults will study Icelandic this winter. All the families will be assigned Icelandic support families to help them adjust to Icelandic society.
Morgunbladid reports that the first refugee group came to Iceland in 1956 from Hungary. Thereafter groups came in 1959, 1979, 1982, 1990 and 1991. Refugee groups have been admitted to Iceland every year since 1996 except for the years 2002 and 2004. A total of 420 refugees have come Iceland since 1956.
