In the wake of FrP adviser Hårek Hansen’s infamous drunken outburst, and not least after he was reported to the police by Aslam Ahsan, it is interesting to examine whether Pakistanis in Norway are in fact as well integrated as we are told.

When we strip away the political platitudes and look at the actual figures, a picture emerges which is quite different from what the authorities want you to see.

The Pakistani population in Norway numbers around 53,000 persons, when we include both those who have immigrated themselves and their descendants. This makes them the largest non-Western immigrant group in the country. Fully 85 per cent of these have settled in the Oslo and Akershus area, which has contributed to the emergence of parallel societies with their own mosques, social networks and norms which often stand in direct contrast to the Norwegian majority society.

Perhaps the clearest evidence of lack of integration is found in the marriage statistics. The figures show that only 3 to 4 per cent of Norwegian-born persons with Pakistani parents marry ethnic Norwegians, and the latter are generally Muslims themselves. From the figures we can observe a persistent trend of bringing spouses from Pakistan or marrying within the closed environment in Norway. Consanguineous marriage is still considerably more widespread in this group than in others, even though this is now prohibited in Norway.

We are always told that Pakistanis are so well integrated into working life and are a resource for the country’s economy. This picture is incorrect. Pakistani women have an employment rate which is among the lowest among the large immigrant groups. This leads to the group as a whole being overrepresented with regard to public benefits. Although the second generation has higher employment than their parents, they still remain noticeably below other groups.

The crime statistics for the period 2020 to 2023 also show a clear trend. Persons with immigrant background are generally overrepresented, with approximately 60 per cent in charges, compared with the rest of the population. Pakistanis belong to the groups which contribute most to this overrepresentation. Second-generation Pakistanis even show a higher crime rate than the first, particularly within violence, property crime and certain types of sexual offences. We all remember the assaults in Oslo involving taxi drivers, where all the perpetrators had foreign background, and several of them were Pakistanis.

The distance from Norwegian society is significant. Pakistanis score highest in Norway in terms of attachment to their own religion, and a very large proportion state that Islam is the most important thing in life. This means that the Pakistanis do not want full equality and individual freedom. Respect for homosexuals is virtually non-existent, and support for freedom of expression disappears entirely when it concerns criticism of Islam.

Compared with other non-Western groups, such as Vietnamese, Thais, Filipinos and Chinese, Pakistanis perform more poorly on all integration indicators. Unlike Pakistanis, people from these groups very often marry ethnic Norwegians, are in employment and speak Norwegian. The Pakistani environment is strongly characterised by Islam, which prevents genuine fusion with the Norwegian people.

The figures leave little doubt that what we are told about Pakistanis in Norway being so successful and well integrated is merely a myth.

This group has quietly built its own parallel society, entirely without the public authorities realising this.

The undersigned wrote an article in 2023 which was upheld against by the Norwegian Press Complaints Commission (PFU). Part of the point there was that certain groups maintain their own cultural and social structures entirely independently of how long they have been in the country. The article was called dehumanising, but the truth is that it pointed to something which is a problem.

But truth is something that the political left in Norway does not want to emerge.