Eat Pork and Drink Alcohol to Adapt, Norwegian Integration Minister Tells Immigrants

Some jobs are not for everyone. Don't apply to be an accountant if you feel faint at the mere sight of an endless column of numbers. Don't plan your life on the opera stages of Europe if you can't carry a tune. And don't become Norway's integration minister if you're not, well, generally inclusive.

Sylvi Listhaug, who is a member of the anti-immigration Progress Party in Norway, is suffering the fate of someone who seems to be in totally the wrong job—and the Muslims of Norway may feel they're suffering even worse thanks to some of her policies.

In anticipation of a national conference on integration, Listhaug posted a comment on her Facebook page: "I think those who come to Norway need to adapt to our society."

What did she mean by that? Well, she explained further: "Here we eat pork, drink alcohol, and show our face. You must abide by the values, laws and regulations that are in Norway when you come here."

Before she knew it, Ms. Listhaug's Facebook page went full-blown Lord of the Flies, with commenters mocking her and telling her to "reconsider her position" as the head of integration. Yesterday, she told the naysayers to stand down: "That's enough. It's about to be a serious problem with people stepping over the line on this page… Show respect for each other and stick to the facts. If you can't handle it, you don't get to write something. Those who contribute to fire up the mood either on one or the other side of the debate will be banned from now on. Report to us if you see inappropriate comments as we don't catch up."

It's pretty clear that this integration minister is not so interested in integration. Last week, she posted that the forecast for asylum seekers in Norway is 8,250 for next year. About this statistic, she commented, "There's a lot of insecurity in Europe and the world, by the way, and it's impossible to predict what happens in the future. I know I'm going to do everything I can to see that we get as few asylum seekers as possible next year, so that we can put an all-out effort into integrating the many who came last year and who have been living here."

Well, then.

Relations with immigrants are tense in Norway. According to The Independent, the government has been "playing tough" with Muslims over the past week; the Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg, told an interviewer that she wouldn't employ anyone wearing an Islamic niqab face veil.

On Facebook, Elisabeth Rønnild posted about Listhaug's comments: "The stupidest thing I've ever read." Omar Gilani Syed, a criminologist who has worked on refugee integration, agrees. He told the newspaper Aftenposten, "If she does not understand the complexity and does not have the expertise to deal with these social issues in a good way, it's time to ask: should Listhaug reconsider her position?" Zaineb Al-Samarai, a Labor Party politician, wrote in an article that appeared in Dagbladet: "If you are to be integration minister, you must begin to integrate."

Inclusiveness—you'd think it would kind of a prerequisite for the job.