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Anna B. and her daughter Sara B. have finally settled in the Verzasca Valley. The child goes to school in Brione TI, the mother is diligently learning Italian and already has many friends. But her application for asylum is rejected shortly before Christmas. You should leave Switzerland.
Myrtle MuellerOutside Reporter News
December 22nd is an important day for the children of the Verzasca Valley. The traditional nativity play was prepared for weeks, the costumes were sewn and the scenery was tinkered with. Sara B.* (8) can also take part. The little Afghan appears as an angel. Her eyes shine like the glittering Christmas decorations in the church.
“She is such a bright child, learns Italian quickly and does well in class,” says her teacher Bianca Soldieri (34) to Blick. «Sara’s mother also takes part in our everyday life, offers to help, walks the dog of a pensioner or does needlework. She’s happy when she can give something back,” says cousin Veronika soldati. Social worker Valentina Matasci (38) is impressed by Anna B.* (32), Sara’s mother: “She really wants to learn our language. She wants to integrate quickly and already has many friends».
More than four years on the run
But the idyll is overshadowed by a registered letter that Anna B. receives just one day before the nativity play. Sender: the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). Your asylum application was rejected. According to the letter from Bern, Anna B. and her daughter should leave Switzerland immediately after Christmas. The Afghan has five days to appeal the decision.
The letter came as a shock to the two asylum seekers. Anna B. has been on the run with her child for over four years. In Afghanistan, she was threatened by her abusive husband. She came to Greece via Turkey. Then she fought her way across the Balkan route to Slovenia. There they took her fingerprints. She reached Italy via the forests. In Chiasso TI she asked for asylum. That was in November 2021. In March 2022, the two came to the Verzasca Valley for the first time.
“They are very kind people,” says Barbara Mutti (53) from Ristorante Froda. Asylum seekers are housed in the guest rooms. Anna B. and her daughter are also moving in. The landlady, known to everyone as “Beba”, remembers: “The mother’s eyes were full of sadness. But the little one radiated hope».
Anna and Sara have been deported before
On the night of May 19, 2022, at around 2 a.m., five police officers woke the mother and child from their sleep. You will be taken to Slovenia. Since they were registered there for the first time on EU soil, they should also apply for asylum there, as stipulated in the Dublin Agreement. But Slovenia is flooded with refugees. The people are not taken care of. Anna B. and Sara B. are the only women living in the men’s wing. “Sara fell ill. She doesn’t eat anymore. We couldn’t stay, »says Anna B. to Blick.
The Afghan woman again undertakes the risky journey through the forests, crosses northern Italy and applies for asylum again at the Ticino border in October 2022. Again she lands in the Verzasca Valley. The residents welcome them with open arms. From now on, the two belong to it. The SEM’s heartless decision caused a wave of outrage – and unexpectedly fierce resistance to the asylum decision.
Over 2700 signatures in just five days
Over Christmas it is possible to collect more than 2700 signatures. Three times more than the valley has inhabitants. First lists are laid out in the village shop in Brione TI. «We are a meeting place in the valley. People could put their signatures on the list,” says Franzisca Werthmüller (53) and remembers, “some took stacks of copies to collect more signatures.” She herself finds the SEM’s decision simply absurd.
Saro di Martino (57) and Giorgio Matasci (70) from Brione TI are shaken. “Things like that shouldn’t happen anymore today,” says the owner of the B&B on the square. And the pensioner adds: “The problem lies solely in Bern.” In the Verzascatral there is enough space for two Afghan women. Pastor Don Marco (63) is also outraged. You have to put people above the rules, “even Jesus broke the rules and put people first”.
Removal under the Dublin procedure
In the final spurt, the petition ends up online. In the end, over 2700 signatures came together. The prominent Ticino lawyer Paolo Bernasconi (79) represents Anna B. and her daughter and submits an objection to the asylum decision in good time. Shortly before the turn of the year, even the Federal Administrative Court instructed the cantonal authorities to refrain from enforcing the removal order for the time being.
But the SEM remains tough. When asked by Blick, the federal authority replied: “The SEM has examined this individual case with the necessary care and taking into account all the circumstances and has come to the conclusion that an expulsion must be ordered as part of the Dublin procedure.”
* Names changed