Cablegate: Norwegian Iranians: A Model Immigrant Community

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FM AMEMBASSY OSLO

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INFO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI 0100

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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 OSLO 000384

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: ASEC CVIS IR KCRM NO PINR PTER

SUBJECT: NORWEGIAN IRANIANS: A MODEL IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY

1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Iranian immigrants in Norway are some of

the country's most successful and best-integrated non-Western

minorities. There are currently over 15,000 first and second

generation Iranians in Norway, making them the tenth largest

immigrant group. The community is highly educated, secular,

and has many examples of successful and prominent individuals

but is split into various segments and does not possess a

coherent identity. Any risk of radicalization is considered

to be minimal, although there are indications that the

Iranian embassy in Oslo has significant negative influence on

other Muslim immigrant communities. END SUMMARY.

WHO ARE THEY AND WHERE ARE THEY FROM?

-------------------------------------

2. (U) Norway's 15,000-strong Iranian population is one of

its longest-resident non-Western immigrant populations, the

majority arriving in Norway over 10 years ago. The first

wave fled from the Islamic Revolution, followed by those

fleeing the Iran-Iraq War. Today the vast majority of

immigrants are either family reunifications or refugees. The

Iranian-Norwegian population is growing quickly, mostly in

the form of a large number of second generation immigrants

born in Norway, although a steady flow of asylum seekers and

family members continues to arrive from Iran every year. It

is estimated that 20-30% of Iranians in Norway are of Kurdish

descent. There are also small numbers of Zoroastrians and

Baha'i. Approximately 70% of Iranians have Norwegian

citizenship.

3. (U) Norwegian Iranian society is composed of several

disparate groups including those who fled the Islamic

Revolution, Kurds, other minority groups, members of the

People's Mujahadeen and traditional economic migrants. One

rough way of looking at these groups is to characterize

Iranian immigrants either as those who retain some ties to

Iran (primarily economic immigrants), those who oppose the

current government of Iran (members of the People's

Mujahadeen) and those who have completely adopted a new

identity as a Norwegian-Iranian and become secular (more

established immigrants, many refugees from the Shah's

regime.)

4. (U) Having left the Islamic Republic for Scandinavia, the

majority of Iranians resident here are of the more educated,

secular variety. Their families are well-off with modern,

largely Western value systems. They are also less interested

in events in Iran than other groups.

5. (U) A small but vocal element in the Norwegian Iranian

community are the approximately 2,000 Iranians who are either

members of the People's Mujahadeen or MEK or are sympathetic.

This group is perhaps the most organized of all of the

Norwegian Iranian subgroups and they are active in protesting

against the government of Iran. They have been successful in

engaging several prominent Norwegian politicians to champion

the cause of the residents of Camp Ashraf in Iraq.

6. (U) An additional category of Iranian immigrant can be

described as those who left Iran to escape the Iran-Iraq War

or for economic reasons. This group still retains at least a

cordial relationship with the Iranian government, as they may

occasionally require consular assistance from its embassy.

Because these Iranians sometimes travel back to their home

country, many are cautious of contact with the embassy due to

threat of arrest or harassment by Iranian authorities when

they return to Iran.

7. (U) As would be expected, the various groups of Iranians

are not fond of each other and do not intermingle, despite

their common cultural background. Differences in politics and

religion prevent the Iranian community from acting

cohesively. The non-religious individuals (who are quite

numerous) have little in common with their more conservative

and religiously observant counterparts, and vice versa.

Education as an Indicator of Integration

----------------------------------------

8. (U) The Iranian community is a very successful and highly

integrated group in Norway. Most Iranian-Norwegians have

lived here for 15-20 years or longer and can be said to

contribute more to the fabric of Norwegian society than

Norwegian immigrant society. There are numerous examples of

high-profile, successful individuals, and many have married

Norwegians and others outside of their nationality.

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9. (U) Iranians are some of Norway's most educated

immigrants. A remarkably low 16% have just a primary school

education or less (including those with no education at all),

making it the lowest of any immigrant group. Only the

Chileans have a similarly low percentage of those with such a

minimal education, at 18%. The average across all immigrants

is over 30%. Turks, for example, have a staggering 51%

getting by with only a primary school education or less.

10. (U) University education is very high among Iranians,

with an average of 43.5% either currently in school or having

already attained a university degree (including those with a

degree from Iran). This percentage dwarfs that of all other

immigrant communities with the exception of the Chinese, who

post numbers above 50%. The total immigrant average is only

around 26%.

11. (U) Second generation Iranians in Norway do even better,

though curiously, not as well as other second generation

immigrants. Thirty-two percent of second generation 19-24

year old Iranian-Norwegians are enrolled in university;

higher than the first generation, who, at 25.2%, are around

seven points above the average of 18.3%, but slightly lower

than the 34.7% total immigrant average for second generation

individuals. The point here is that, although Iranians do

improve their education numbers, they have not quite improved

at the same rate as other groups have.

Employment as an Indicator of Integration

-----------------------------------------

12. (U) Employment is an area where Iranians might be

described as under-performing, even if only slightly. With

58.3% of first generation individuals aged 15-74 years

employed, they post higher numbers than any other immigrants

from Muslim countries, yet compared to the total immigrant

average of 63.3%, they are relatively unimpressive. It is

worth noting that a much higher percentage of Iranian women

are employed than any other immigrants from a Muslim

background, with 54% working. For comparison, employment

among Turkish, Pakistani, and Somali women is much lower,

with only 42%, 31%, and 24% in jobs, respectively. Iranian

women are even doing relatively well among all female

immigrants, whose average is only a slightly higher 57%. The

women employed tend to earn among the highest salaries of

immigrant groups, ranking highest among Norwegian Muslim

populations.

Religion

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13. (U) Immigrants from Iran are the least religious group of

any in Norway. When first and second generation Iranian

immigrants were asked if they still belonged to the religion

they were brought up with as children, only 50% answered

"yes," while the combined number for all other immigrants is

closer to 90%.

14. (U) Not surprisingly, the importance most Iranians grant

religion in their lives is correspondingly low. When asked

to rate this on a scale of 1 - 10 with "1" being "not

important at all" and "10" being "very important," the

Iranians' average score is around 3.9--again, the lowest of

any immigrant group. The total immigrant average is a much

higher 6.9. Forty percent of Iranians actually answered this

question with a "1," meaning religion is not at all important

to them. This is telling, as it reveals that not only have

most Iranians left the religion in which they were raised

(Islam), but that they have also not converted to another;

religion simply is not a part of their lives.



Is Radicalization a Risk?

-------------------------

15. (U) Reflecting their overall successful integration into

Norwegian society, there appears to be very little risk of

radicalization among most Iranian immigrants. There are

several possible trouble spots worth mentioning. The first

is discrimination, which is unusually high for such a

successful and well-integrated population. When asked if

they have experienced discrimination of any kind and, if so,

how many instances, only 36.3% say they have encountered none

at all. The average across all immigrants is 55.6%. Only

the Somalis (who have been the subject of considerable

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negative media attention and are considered by many to be an

at-risk community) say they have experienced more

discrimination, with only 33.9% reporting that they have had

no problems with discrimination. Perhaps more worrisome,

Iranians have the highest percentage of individuals of any

immigrant group that say they have experienced discrimination

in "four areas or more," at 4.1%. Here, 3.6% of Somalis say

the same, while the total immigrant average is a much lower

1.6%. Discrimination can be considered the main cause for

concern over radicalization (even if mild) for the Iranian

community.

16. (U) The second possible area of concern is the close

contact some members of the community maintain with the

Iranian government. There is no evidence yet of this being

any major cause for alarm, although it could potentially

become one in the future. This is particularly so if the

individuals who have close contact with conservative elements

in Iran are also the same individuals who say they experience

higher instances of discrimination. If there were a

simultaneous rise in discrimination and an increase in the

number of visits to (or contact with) Iran, this could point

to a greater risk of radicalization among the Iranian

community.

Activities of the Iranian Embassy

---------------------------------

17. (SBU) Post has been told that the Iranian embassy

observes individuals in the secular group, especially those

who publicly protest Iranian activities (human rights abuses,

policy, etc.). The Iranian embassy is also active in

tracking those who are members of the People's Mujahadeen.

Most of these individuals are unable to return to Iran for

fear of imprisonment and/or death threats. The Norwegian

government has told these individuals to be cautious even if

traveling near the Turkish-Iranian border.

18. (SBU) Mazyar Keshvari, a prominent Iranian-Norwegian

politician in the conservative Progress Party, confirmed this

and believes that the Iranian embassy in Oslo carries out

significant outreach activities to Norway's Muslim

immigrants, funding mosques and encouraging more conservative

elements in Islam. Keshvari believes Iranians here are in

little or no danger of being influenced by the embassy's

efforts because most are too educated, secular, and

integrated to be attracted to a conservative Islamic message.

There is an Iranian mosque in Oslo which, Keshvari says, the

Islamic Republic's embassy uses as a tool to exert some

amount of influence on the observant Iranian Muslims here, as

well as any other nationalities that also happen to attend.

Keshvari (who, it should be noted again, is a regular and

vocal critic of Iran) showed particular concern about the

Iranian embassy's activities and influence in Norway and was

alarmed that the Norwegian government tolerates their actions.

19. (SBU) Keshvari also mentioned his suspicion that the

Iranian government uses exchange student visas to send

intelligence agents to Norway. These people allegedly

monitor the Norwegian-Iranian population and at times use

Norway as a sort of a safe house useful for raising money and

for planning operations in other parts of the world.

Keshvari did not believe that the Norwegian police were

willing, or perhaps were not able to effectively monitor

these individuals.

COMMENT

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20. (SBU) Iranians are arguably Norway's most successful

group of immigrants and certainly the most successful among

those with Muslim backgrounds. Despite high discrimination,

Iranian-Norwegians have managed to become educated,

reasonably well-employed, and quite well-integrated.

Norwegian-Iranians appear to be a population that is not

prone to radicalize, but which could serve as a model for

future immigrant integration. Keshvari's description of the

Iranian embassy's efforts to negatively influence the Muslim

community in Norway seems--although potentially troublesome

for other Muslim immigrants--unlikely to affect Iranians

themselves.

WHITNEY

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