55 refugees to be invited to Iceland in 2018

Þorsteinn Víglundsson, Minister for Social affairs in Iceland.

Þorsteinn Víglundsson, Minister for Social affairs in Iceland. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson

The Icelandic government accepted yesterday to invite 55 refugees to Iceland next year. Within a few years the government will be accepting 100 refugees per year. 

The refugees are arriving in January from refugee camps in Jordan and Kenya and their nationalities have not been revealed yet. 

According to Minister for Social Affairs Þorsteinn Víglundsson this is according to the government's policy to increase the number of quota refugees. By the end of the electoral period the government aims to receive 100 quota refugees annually. 

Víglundsson added that other groups as well as Syrian refugees will be looked into as the UN refugee agency has pointed out that other groups are being left out due to the great emphasis of acceptng Syrian refugees. 

Up to ten gay refugees staying at a refugee camp in Kenya will be invited to come to Iceland.

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