At the annual meeting of Filipinos in Scandinavia “Pulong ng Nayan”, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry promised to lower the remittance fees for immigrants.
When immigrants work in Norway and want to send their remittances to their families back home, they are paying too high fees. This has just been revealed by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.
In a report made by the Ministry, it showed that immigrants pay as much as 20 percent of the amount they send to their families in remittance fees.
Speaking before Filipinos attending the “Pulong ng Bayan” at the Philippine Embassy in Oslo on Saturday, Astrid Helle Ajamay, project coordinator of the Migration and Development Project of the Ministry, said it is a “shame” that immigrants have to pay such high fees in order to send money from Norway. She said “this is not acceptable.”
According to Astrid Helle Ajamay the Ministry is now working for lower rates. One of the first steps that the Ministry has taken, she says, is to provide immigrants information on the rates charged by banks and other institutions for remittances so that they will have access to cheaper alternatives.
The Pulong ng Bayan, is an annual meeting of Filipinos in Scandinavia organized by the Philippine embassy to discuss current issues affecting the community. This year’s Pulong was attended by Filipino organizations from Denmark and Norway.
Official Norwegian government data said there are about 10,000 Filipinos in Norway. The Philippine embassy, however, said the figure could go as high as 16,000.
