In 2019, Emilie Hausberg Holmås (19) moved alone to the industrial village of Øvre Årdal, to start as an apprentice at Hydro Aluminum.
Emilie feared that she would not fit in and settle in the village with only 3,000 inhabitants. And when the pandemic shut down Norway, everything quickly got worse.
– I handled things quite well. But then we came to the point where I was not allowed to go home and visit my family during the free periods. Then it became difficult for me mentally. Many tears were shed, she says.
– Has helped extremely much
Closed restaurants and visitor restrictions limit the social meeting places for young people. according to Opinion states every other person under the age of 25 that they feel more lonely as a result of corona.
For Emilie, robbery was the rescue.
– The robbery has helped me extremely much. It has been a lifeline for me and many others. We get out and get the opportunity to be social and do what we love, she says.
– APPRENTICE: Emilie works as an apprentice at Hydro, and spends her free time behind the wheel. Photo: Anders Hereid / Screen Story / TV 2
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Emilie was introduced to robbery, so-called “pointless driving”, when she was 15 years old. For the past year, the robbery has been the only way she has been social.
– If I had not had the robbery, it would have been insanely tough. I had not had the opportunity to see my friends, she describes.
Through the robbery environment, she got a good friend in Helena Beatrice Høsøien (19).
– PREPARING: Helena washes the car before the robbery. Photo: Anders Hereid / Screen Story / TV 2
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They are both apprentices at Hydro, and became friends due to the common interest in cars.
– Emilie looked like that kind of girl who likes cars. I asked her, and it was true, so we clicked right away. Then we found out that both have tongue piercings, and then we really just clicked even more, says Helena, and laughs.
– The whole village came to life
Sogndal, an hour’s drive from Øvre Årdal, is one of the places that has noticed increased robbery activity recently.
One weekend in February, both the police and the locals here were taken to bed, when suddenly between 40 and 50 cars gathered in Sogndal center. Since then, robbers have arrived from a number of settlements every weekend.
– It was a kind of mustering. Suddenly the whole village came to life, describes police superintendent Jorunn Furuheim, and continues:
– Then we realized that now the robbery culture has come to our village as well.
– PATRULAR: Superintendent of Police Jorunn Furuheim in Sogndal greets young people who rob. Photo: Anders Hereid / Screen Story / TV 2
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Increase in several places in the country
It is not only in Sogndal and the surrounding area that the robbery has picked up. The increased activity has also been noticed in Finnsnes in Troms and Finnmark.
– The street in Finnsnes will be a gathering place for young people who need other places to gather now that the patios are closed. And they come from all over the county, this weekend there were over 100 cars here. I do not know if it has anything to do with the corona, says police superintendent Steingrim Ovesen.
– PURPOSE: The Norwegian Language Council has defined robbery as pointless driving. Photo: Anders Hereid / Screen Story / TV 2
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The sheriff in Central and Western Telemark, Stine Benjaminsen Nygård, also talks about a large increase in robbery in the last year.
– I do not have specific figures, but there is talk of an increase of several hundred percent, she says, and points to the NRK success “Rådebank” as a possible reason.
– We assume that the “Rådebank” series is the reason. Robbers come from all over Eastern Norway to visit filming locations, it has almost become a tourist attraction. Mostly these are law-abiding young people, but it can offer traffic challenges, littering and pushing, so we have had to increase staffing, says Nygård.
TV 2 has also been in contact with several other sheriff’s offices, which, on the other hand, do not recognize that there has been increased robbery activity.
Watch the entire episode about the robbery environment in the TV 2 series “Real” here:
– Always room for one more
For friends Emilie and Helena, all their free time is spent behind the wheel. And even though they are already many, they are aware that the environment always has room for more.
– The nice thing about the robbery environment is that there is a place for everyone. We are inclusive with everyone. People who do not find their place can come and be with us. We always have room for one more, says Emilie.
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