Saturday night, Stian Otnæs-Alifanov (19) was in a quarantine hotel at Gardermoen. But was it right of the police and Ullensaker municipality to send him there?
Stian Otnæs-Alifanov (19) lives in this hotel room. He lives in Norway, but studies in Switzerland. There, the campus was suddenly shut down due to the corona pandemic. Photo: Private
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20. mars 2021 21:00
Last updated 19 minutes ago
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On Friday afternoon, mother Anna Ytterdahl and stepfather Ronny Ytterdahl are waiting in the arrival hall at Gardermoen. 19-year-old Stian Otnæs-Alifanov will return home from his studies in Switzerland. The campus is closed. Now the plan is to prepare for digital exams at home in Norway.
But after two and a half hours, the couple has to give up. Then they have seen Stian being escorted away by the border police. He has been told to move into a quarantine hotel. He was given the reason in the passport control: His return trip was not necessary.
Saturday night a desperate student is sitting in the hotel. Basically, he should be there 10 days. If he tests negative after three days, the situation may change.
But was it right to send the 19-year-old to a quarantine hotel, in the first place?
New rules night to Friday
The family believes the treatment is in violation of the regulations. Just before the weekend, the rules for entry to Norway and the use of quarantine hotels were tightened. It happened after the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday sent one circular to police and state administrators.
The austerity measures came into force on Friday night. They also affect business travel and travel for people who have a residential address in Norway.
But exceptions are made for several groups.
Government websites says that traveling to and from Norway can be considered necessary. And not just for business travel:
“Travel to and from Norway will in the same way be considered necessary for students who live in Norway, but who are studying abroad and their household members.”
For those who can document that they are resident in Norway, and have been on a necessary trip, the quarantine can be carried out at home.
In the house in Drammen, where Stian Otnæs-Alifanov has a residential address, he has a separate floor with a bathroom and toilet. Here the family had thought that the son would spend the quarantine period.
So was Stian’s journey necessary? And what about necessary infection tests?
Three negative tests
Stian has been tested three times in the last few days:
- Once within 72 hours before departure from Geneva.
- Once at the airport in Geneva.
- Once at Gardermoen.
All three tests are negative.
The circular from the Ministry of Justice emphasizes that “necessary” travel means work trips and other trips that are justified by strong welfare considerations.
But what if a place of study abroad closes down, and the students have to move anyway because of this?
—-– This is not correct. I should be home by now. This is just shocking. I can not concentrate on reading because I only stress about getting out of the quarantine hotel, says Stian Otnæs-Alifanov (19). Photo: Private
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– I did not feel exactly welcome
– We were really looking forward to meeting him and were completely shocked when he called us and said that he was not allowed to come home, says mother Anna Ytterdahl.
This is how Stian himself describes the experience at Gardermoen:
– First I was told that the trip was not necessary. Then we were followed away in groups with guards in front and behind. They sent us to the hotel. I did not feel exactly welcome, he says, and says that he managed to exchange a few words with his parents as he was escorted past them.
Arriving at the hotel, Stian had to pay 2,000 kroner for four nights.
– It does not make sense. The situation is completely wrong. I want to complain about this, he says.
The police and the municipality pointed to each other
Aftenposten has tried to find out why Stian was sent to a hotel.
When he asked, the police referred to Ullensaker municipality. When Aftenposten got in touch, the municipality referred to the police.
We have also described Stian’s case to the Norwegian Directorate of Health and Assistant Director Espen Rostrup Nakstad.
– In general, those who on entry can document that they are resident in Norway and that the trip was necessary, and who stay in the home or other suitable place of residence, are exempt from the obligation to stay in quarantine hotels, says Nakstad.
But when it comes to the conditions themselves, the police must be involved.
At the border police at Gardermoen, we are asked to send our questions by e-mail.
We especially ask about:
- How detailed are the rules when it comes to the necessity of travel?
- What is decisive?
- Are the rules so detailed that they leave no doubt, or must discretion be exercised anyway?
- If there is discretion, then there is a risk that practice is different at different border stations?
– Just chaos
On Friday, Ullensaker municipality had a total of 670 people in quarantine hotels, the municipality’s press officer Roger Sandum states. 270 of them came on Friday night, after the new rules came into force. Stian Otnæs-Alifanov tells Aftenposten that several of them think they should never have been there.
On Saturday night, the municipality notifies him that the police will come to the hotel to talk to him and others at 19 o’clock.
– When I went down to the reception at 6.30 pm, they could tell that the police had been there for a couple of hours, and then left again, the 19-year-old says.
– In summary, I have the impression that it is just chaos, and that no one knows who is responsible for what. Representatives from the municipality at the hotel say that it is the police who are responsible. The switchboard in the police says it is the municipality that is responsible. And we who are here, myself included, feel like throwing balls, he says.
Police: Too extensive to answer tonight
On Saturday evening at 7.30 pm, Aftenposten will receive an answer from police attorney Linda Tengesdal at the Eastern Police District.
– This will be too extensive for us to answer tonight. We see that we have to prioritize other work tasks, she writes.
– We do not have the capacity to go in depth on professional questions tonight, writes Tengesdal.
She is also unsure whether the Eastern Police District is the correct address for Aftenposten’s questions. Maybe they should have been sent to the legislature, she thinks.
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