– A resident played extremist Islamic prayers over his loudspeaker all day long concerning killing non-believers. I have reported this several times, but receive no response.
This is stated by an asylum seeker at UDI’s special reception centre for ill and dangerous foreign nationals (spesialmottak for syke og farlige utlendinger) at Rødbergodden in Senja municipality.
– This is not only a question of safety for us residents, but also for the wider society, says the man.
He also claims that none of the asylum seekers are followed up and checked for weapons after they have been outside the reception centre.
Document mentioned the same man last week in another article. His first name is Mekhaeil. He does not wish his surname to be published.
– I experienced that a resident acted out so much on the bus that the police had to be called. We are talking about residents who are too ill and too dangerous to live in other reception centres, who can obtain both knives and intoxicants on trips to Finnsnes — but no one is checked for anything whatsoever, he tells Troms Folkeblad.
Document has asked UDI whether the alerts have been followed up internally and reported to the police and PST. UDI does not, as a matter of practice, comment on individual cases, but Regional Director Njård Håkon Gudbrandsen states that UDI has conducted inquiries into the matter.
– UDI has been in contact with the reception centre, which is not aware that this has taken place. They have also investigated the allegations further without having them confirmed. UDI therefore has no grounds for concluding that the allegations have any basis in reality.
Read the full response from UDI at the end of the article.
Knife and razor blade
The Chief of Police in Troms last month brought charges against a man in his twenties with a common Arabic name, for a number of serious threats, death threats, violence and breaches of public order at asylum reception centres at Rødbergodden and in Gratangen.
Document has no information indicating that the accused is the same individual who is also said to have played terror threats in the form of prayer.
From the indictment against the asylum seeker who has lived at two reception centres for particularly unruly individuals in two municipalities in Troms.
Several of the death threats at Rødbergodden concern, according to police prosecutor Hanne Simonsen, that he would use a knife and “take”, “cut and stab” the staff.
Last summer, he is said to have displayed a razor blade that was to be used to cut off the head of a named employee, who himself bears an Arabic name. This year, he repeated the razor blade threat towards an Eastern European asylum seeker.
He has also been loud and aggressive and lifted large stones above head height while on two different dates in 2025 he moved in the direction of four police officers.
– Six employees placed resident in handcuffs
One of the first things Mekhaeil says he saw when he arrived at the reception centre last year was two employees running after one of the residents out in the yard. The following day, a resident acting out was held down by six employees and placed in handcuffs.
– This is not only a question of safety for us residents, but also for the wider society, he says.
He states, according to Folkebladet, that he came to seek protection from Mexican drug cartels, not to end up in a madhouse.
He believes that UDI sent him to Rødbergodden in November last year in retaliation for his speaking out in NRK and iFinnmark and describing objectionable conditions at the asylum reception centre in Vadsø, where he was initially accommodated.
– There should at the very least be a psychologist present to carry out a safety assessment of the residents and their mental health. How can the reception centre otherwise determine whether a resident may be dangerous? To me it appears that economy is prioritised higher than responsibility and safety, says Mekhaeil.
He has audio recordings of what he describes as a resident acting out, shouting and banging on doors in the corridor of the reception centre in order to make contact with staff.
UDI states to Troms Folkeblad that it has no basis in reality that the accommodation at Rødbergodden is used to “punish” residents, but will not comment on details in this individual case.
Document has also previously reported on incidents that have caused UDI to react towards Tian Helse AS, which operates the reception centre, with a notice of breach of the supplier contract.
At that time, the post journal contained 128 cases in the digital case file after UDI conducted an on-site inspection in 2025.
Fullt kaos på skandalemottaket på Rødbergodden: – Ulevelige forhold
The other accommodation measure for dangerous asylum seekers in Salangen, operated by the same company, also received in 2025 “a flood” of orders for improvements and measures from UDI.
Threats with boulders
The acting-out Arab man, who will shortly stand trial before Nord-Troms and Senja District Court (Nord-Troms og Senja tingrett), is charged with 18 criminal offences in close connection with the asylum reception centres at which he has resided in Troms.
Stones as weapons recur on a number of occasions. The stones appear to come from the shoreline just below the reception centre:
“[…] before he eventually went down to the shoreline and picked up several stones and made throwing motions towards staff present.”
- Threatened residents with stones and threatened the employee who took the stone from him with killing them with a knife.
- Smashed furniture and several windows with stones, punched through a partition wall.
- Held a plank above his head with both hands and threatened staff.
- Shouted to an ethnically Norwegian employee “I will harm you”, or similar, and struck the wall with a clenched fist right next to his head.
- Jumped/kicked on a car from a local company so that both side mirrors were smashed.
- Threw/struck objects at prison officers through the hatch in the cell door, repeatedly shouting death threats at them.
- Kicked doors, shouted and screamed, “and walked around the corridors bare-chested making movements indicating that he was ready to fight”.
Document’s questions to UDI’s Regional Director Njård Håkon Gudbrandsen
- Tian Helse AS and UDI, according to a resident, did not react to warnings about what may appear to be terror threats. Why not?
- Has the matter been reported to a) the police and b) PST?
- What are Tian Rødbergodden and other asylum reception centres required to do under UDI’s rules in cases where this type of extremism among residents at an asylum reception centre is reported?
- Were internal measures implemented at Rødbergodden and within UDI pending any investigation and intervention by the police and PST?
- Do we know what has happened in this specific case – for example, has the resident in question been arrested, charged, refused asylum, departed, or been deported?
UDI’s response
Regional Director Njård Håkon Gudbrandsen:
– We take all enquiries from our asylum reception centres, their surroundings and not least from our residents very seriously. If we are made aware of conditions that we consider give grounds for follow-up, we will do so. Follow-up may either involve requesting the asylum reception centre/operator to correct something we consider should be corrected, or asking them to investigate the matter further. We may also conduct investigations ourselves.
– If we suspect criminal activity, we, or the reception centre, will contact the police. We routinely request our asylum reception centres to report all forms of criminal activity that occur at our reception centres. The reception centres, and we, have good dialogue with the police in cases where this is appropriate.
– We understand the desire for more information about the matter referred to in Troms Folkeblad. UDI has been in contact with the reception centre, which is not aware that this has taken place. They have also investigated the allegations further, without having them confirmed. UDI therefore has no grounds for concluding that the allegations have any basis in reality.
Read more about the problems at the asylum reception centre at Rødbergodden: