Hundreds of political youth are joining a camp on Utoya for the first time since an extreme nationalist killed 69 people in a murderous rampage on the Norwegian island four years ago.
Survivor Sverre Outhouse says he's "been through a lot" since he lost close friends in the attack on July 22, 2011, but that it was time to return and have a "great time" with friends.
The murderous rampage of the self-styled "militant nationalist" Anders Behring Breivik traumatised Norwegians, with about one in four people in the country affected through connections with family, friends or acquaintances of the victims.
More than 1000 youth have enrolled for a weekend of political seminars and social activities, organised by the Labour Party's youth wing that owns the island.
Prior to the Utoya attack, Breivik set off a powerful bomb outside the central government buildings in Oslo, killing eight people.
Breivik is serving a 21-year prison sentence for the attacks.
Already the day after Breivik's attack, then-youth wing leader Eskil Pedersen said it was necessary to reclaim Utoya, which has been used by the youth wing since 1950.
Uniformed police officers have been deployed on the island, the mainland overlooking the island and in boats off the coast to ensure that participants feel safe, local police chief Kjell Magne Tvenge told reporters.
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