Iceland charity arranges asylum seekers New Year party By News from Elsewhere...

...as found by BBC Monitoring Published duration 30 December 2016

image copyright (Sophia Groves/Getty Images) image caption Reykjavik in midwinter

Iceland is bracing itself for severe winter storms, but charity workers are hoping to warm the hearts of asylum seekers by hosting a New Year party for them in the capital, Reykjavik.

Thorunn Olafsdottir, the director of the Akkeri (Anchor) charity, says she came up with the idea while working in Greece over the summer. Akkeri raised money through social media for Muslim asylum seekers in a camp near the Macedonian border to mark the end of Ramadan with a festive meal, and Ms Olafsdottir says a similar campaign has collected enough funds for the New Year party. She told Morgunbladid newspaper that Reykjavik Council has loaned them City Hall on scenic Lake Tjornin for the event.

"It's good that people can have some fun and become human again, for a while. Every day is long for people waiting to hear what will happen with their asylum applications," she says, adding that New Year's Eve can be a difficult time for people who have suffered. "This is an experiment to show these people that they are worth something, and are welcome in our community."

There have been tensions over asylum seekers, whose numbers are estimated to have reached 800 in a country with a population of less than 350,000. Campaigners say applications are processed too slowly, and would-be migrants complain that they are not allowed to seek work while they wait.

Akkeri is appealing on social media for volunteers to help out at the New Year event, which will involve cakes, coffee, and special entertainment for children, and has received more than 40 offers already. Ms Olafsdottir told Morgunbladid that organising transport for the migrants, some of whom are housed in relatively remote parts of the country, remains a problem, especially given the bad weather, but she hopes to have sorted out buses by the time of the party.