Negligence

Few things irritate me more than to read about how overcrowded the prisons are becoming in Iceland and how something needs to be done about it.  It was reported that the problem is so bad, two people have to share one cell.   The first thing that needs be done is to stop running a prison like a hotel. As Edda pointed out in her blog http://ek.blog.is/blog/ek/entry/896621/, it is normal to share a hospital room with more than one person so why should the prisons be different.  These are criminals we are talking about here; are we to treat them better than patients?  If two or more need to share a room so be it.  If the prisoners don't like it they should stay out of prison. 

The next thing to be done it to remove the TV's and computers from the rooms.  Is it a prison or a country club?  Sure it would be nice to rehabilitate people and that attitude is fine with non-violent criminals and actually Iceland should have a separate facility for such offenders.  As for the violent scum, two to a cell, no computers, no TV, and no phones is what they deserve.  Plain and simple. If more room is really needed the authorities can always use the brig on the airbase.  Maybe it is not up to Icelandic hotel/country club standards, but it is ready to hold prisoners.

All the foreign prisoners should be sent back to their home countries to do the time.   Being a foreigner I am going to do the Icelanders a favor here as say something sometimes they are too shy to say.  The influx of foreigners into Iceland without the need for work permits or background checks was and is the biggest mistake the Icelandic government has made-EVER.  Bigger than privatizing the banks. Bigger than the ICESAVE agreement. 

The opening of the borders was to fill jobs. Most people that came to work were youn men. By allowing this type of immigration of mostly young, foreign men, a situation was created I like to call the Wild West syndrome. It has increased crime in Iceland. The criminal element that found its way to Iceland did not phone home to invite their families, they invited their criminal friends.  Anybody who wants to argue otherwise is a fool, period.  Don't talk to me about the "majority" of prisoners being Icelanders. They should be! This is Iceland! Notice no one mentions how many are foreigners. Or how many are violent offenders. Too afraid to be called rasist. I thought we were all from the same race. The human race.

So Iceland opened the borders, women were violently attacked, people were beaten, and millions, millions of kronur of property was stolen.  And all for what? What was gained by this great experiment? Is Iceland better off because of it? Are Icelanders better off? What is the purpose of having this open border system?

Don't misunderstand me, I am not against foreigners living in Iceland (for obvious reasons). There is just a better way to it.  When I came to Iceland I had to have employment first.  I had to provide documented proof that I was not a criminal.  I saw nothing wrong with such a system.  It was the right way to do it and it worked fine.  Why it was changed I will never know.  The country is too small to allow unlimited, undocumented immigration.  The police force was not prepared to handle to increase in crime, although they have done a commendable job with the resources they have, the shops were not prepared for the increase in shoplifting, the bars not prepared for the increase in violence and the women not prepared for aggressive, sometimes criminal behavior that they could encounter.

And yet the government let the policy go forward and allowed it to continue even with all the evidence to the negative effect it was having on the country.  They only seemed to care about the economical benefit, and now that benefit is gone.  And Iceland is stuck with all the negative effects thanks to a government that should be charged with negligence in their handling of immigration.  And now the prisons are full, what a surprise.

GTB

Aðbúnaður fanga ekki nógu góður

Athugasemdir

[JS (IP-tala skráð) 14.6.2009 kl. 23:44]

No offense but I would rather keep our prisons the way they are than to make them anything like the prisons in the US (for obvious reasons) :)

And I'm not sure why you say that foreigners don't have to provide their criminal records - that's exactly what they have to do when they apply for a residence visa/work permit. I should know - my American husband needs to do that. I would think others do too. Unless something has changed since the last time I checked?

[Gregg Thomas Batson, 15.6.2009 kl. 00:08]

JS

People coming from countries inside the Schengen Area  do not need to provide background information. They are free to travel within the area and apply for work.  The US is not part of this area, so your husband is still required to follow the old and better system. 

No one would say the US has an ideal example of a prison system but there is nothing wrong with having two people to a cell here in Iceland. Considering what many of these criminals have done, this is a small inconvenience for them to deal with.

GTB

[Sjóveikur, 15.6.2009 kl. 01:34]

I like your wrighting Gregg, we need more of this, thanks

Byltingar kveðjur, sjoveikur

[Gunnar (IP-tala skráð) 18.6.2009 kl. 16:38]

I love the idea behind Schengen. It's a great benefit for Icelanders to be able to move around Europe as freely as possible. But you have to take the good with the bad. You can't exprect to get all the benefits and not having to give the same back. And as for the jails, I do support that the criminals are treated with respect and have a right for their own privacy. I think being deprived of your freedom is punishment enough. Rehabilitation is more important than punishment.