Camel Therapy?

Sounds like a bad Norwegian joke, but this was on the front page of one of Sweden's leading papers (Dagens Nyheter) today:

Municipal camels will help refugees

Authorities in Löten, 120 km north of Oslo, want to help refugees with the aid of camels, Dagbladet's net edition reports.

Wenche Stenseth, the official in charge of refugee questions in the county, has requested an extra requisition of 1 million Norwegian crowns which will pay for the purchase of 10 to 20 camels [and bring them to Norway].

At present, over 100 non-European refugees are staying in Löten, the majority from Somalia and Sudan. They have a difficult time in getting jobs and adjusting. However, many of them have previous experience in camel husbandry.

If they would be able to take advantage of their camel skills then this would make their integration easier, reasoned Stenseth. The Norwegian Immigration Bureau has not commented on her request, but there is skepticism from Norwegian equivalent of the FDA:

"Camels are consdiered 'exotic animals' and therefore require special import permission," says the regional director, Eivind Liven.