Around 3000 rejected and "non-returnable" asylum seekers live in Norwegian asylum reception centres. They remain in an indefinite limbo situation for several years, without permission to work, no right to essential medical care and no possibility to leave for another country. The only solution offered is to remain in asylum reception centers with no privacy and a daily allowance far below the poverty threshold. They come from countries that will not receive them if returned because of lack of official return agreement or countries too dangerousto return to. After a couple of years in this limbo situation, the majority experience severe psychological trauma and many suffer from illnesses due to lack of medical care. This project is dedicated Eritrean Yemane Teferi who died in January 2016 after 25 years in Norwegian asylum reception centres.
Featured in The Artbo Magazine
Featured in Dodho Magazine of contemporary photography
Exhibition På Kanten Filosofifestival, Kragerø in June 2016
Exhibition Nordic Light Festival of Photography 2016
No Man's Land Exhibition in front of the Norwegian parliament from 8th - 18th February 2016.
Awarded Honourable Mention IPA AWARDS (International Photography Awards) 2015
The story about Yemane Teferi from Eritrea. Yemane spent 25 years waiting to be granted asylum in Norwegian and Swedish asylum centres. He died from a sudden heart arrest at Bømlo Asylum Centre six months after this video was shot. His last wish was to be buried in the woods at Bømlo, but the Norwegian authorities returned the body to Eritrea.
Washington Post on 14th October 2015
Washington Post on 12th January 2016