But what if the diploma mills are also found in the Norwegian authorities' own backyard?
Today, Khrono can reveal a network operating in the Middle East and awarding certificates and diplomas for honorary doctorates. The diplomas are issued by fake universities, registered in Norway and operated by two men living in the Oslo area.
On several occasions, diplomas were awarded at fashionable ceremonies at hotels in the United Arab Emirates.
Persons playing central roles in the network, claims that the diplomas have been approved by the Norwegian authorities.
This is the story of the fake universities.
Aihan Jaf lives in this house in Lier between Oslo and Drammen.
The 53-year-old Kurdish immigrant is a local politician for the Socialist Left Party in Lier and in recent years he has reported an annual income of just over 200.000 Norwegian kroner.
People who know Jaf say that he has not completed any form of higher education.
This, however, has not prevented him from presenting himself as a doctor for several years, while travelling to several countries in the Middle East and arranging conferences in hotels in the United Arab Emirates.
Jaf has established several organizations both in Norway and in England. The most visible of them is called the Arab-European Center for Human Rights and International Law.
He also established the organization «Oslo International University for Studies and Research» in 2017.
Aihan Fatah Jaf
Age: 52 years old
Citzenship: Norwegian
Heritage: Sulaymani kurdish region of Irak.
Lives: In Lier, between Drammen and Oslo, Norway. He is active in the Socialist Left Party as a local team leader.
Has created the following organizations in Norway: Arab-European Center for Human Rights and International Law International Organization for Human Rights and International Law Oslo International University for Studies and Research.
Sources tell Khrono that Jaf has not completed any higher education, but Jaf refers to himself as Dr. Aihan Jaf.
Foto: Christophe Meireis/ECPM
Oslo International University for Studies and Research describes itself in the Norwegian Business Registry in Brønnøysund as: «The university evaluates specialized scientific research and studies in all fields, and gives researchers trade certificates and honorary doctorates as recognition awards for their specialized research. And give them an expert degree».
The university issues diplomas in the Middle East and have promised that these will provide students opportunities to gain valid educations in Europe.
The group leader in Lier Socialist Left Party, Kathy Lie, tells Khrono that she perceives Jaf as a dutiful man who always shows up at meetings and takes on tasks. But she has never heard of any university.
I have not heard of any university. I know he runs an international human rights organization, but I know little about how the organization works, she says.
For several months, Khrono has attempted to contact Jaf on a number of occasions. Jaf has not answered emails, text messages or phone calls.
Collaboration with the Egyptian academies
April 2019: The Rector of Horus Academy in Egypt is preparing for a press conference. He has decorated the office with the Norwegian flag and the logo of the Norwegian university with whom his academy is signing an agreement with. Something big is brewing for the academy, which educates health workers, among other educational disciplines.
The Norwegian university is the university created by Aihan Jaf: Oslo University for Studies and Research, or Oslo University as it is commonly referred to.
On January 24 of this year, Nokut, the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education, asked Jaf to explain what this university is and what it does. Nokut emphasized to Jaf that only accredited institutions can call themselves universities.
Nokut has not yet heard from Jaf. After Khrono first contacted Jaf four days after the Nokut request, he deleted the organization and the university website.
Before then, the university marketed itself with having 1,258 international students and 35 "learning programs". It advertised university a large number of courses costing several thousand Norwegian kroner.
Claims he can bring talented students from Egypt
When the press conference at in Egypt starts, the academy president is sitting behind a large wooden desk. The Norwegian flag and the EU flag are prominently placed.
By his side sits Aihan Jaf.
There is a great contrast between Jaf's modest life in Norway and the man who signs the agreement, lets himself be photographed and does an interview with an Egyptian TV channel.
The document signed by Jaf and the academy president is described as a collaboration protocol between the Egyptian academy and Oslo International University for Studies and Research. The agreement is about the exchange of experience and information, scientific training and exchange of students between Oslo and Damietta, the port city on Egypt's north coast where the academy is located.
This is what Horus Academy claims on its Facebook page. Romouz Academy in Giza near Cairo is also part of the agreement.
Jaf emphasizes in a TV interview posted on the same Facebook page, that according to the signed agreement it may be possible for students who excel at the academy to travel on an exchange program to Norway.
Jaf also says that the agreement gives students at Horus a great advantage because they can gain European expertise, in addition to Egyptian expertise. In marketing itself, Horus declares that their degrees are approved in Egypt as well as in the EU.
In responding to queries from Khrono about the agreement, whether he feels he has been tricked and if he knows that the Oslo International University for Studies and Research is not a genuine university, the president of Horus Academy has not responded. He declares that he must have approval from the Egyptian authorities to talk to us, and Khrono has not succeeded in getting such an approval.
The Facebook-page of the academy, where photos and TV-interviews were shared, seems to have been deleted
