The government doesn’t want to know anything about the SVP demand
Federal Council does not want to deport asylum seekers to Africa
SVP President Marco Chiesa believes that the fact that Italy is no longer taking back Schengen refugees shows that the asylum system is not working. He wants the Federal Council to fly out refugees to Africa. But he doesn’t want to know anything about it.
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At the Chiasso train station, the border guards keep picking up illegal migrants. Because of the Italian ban on readmission, they cannot currently be returned.
Daniel BallmerEditor Politics
The Federal Council makes no secret of its skepticism. “He does not develop a scenario in which the asylum procedures are outsourced abroad,” confirms Samuel Wyss from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). Rather, the government continues to rely on “quick and fair asylum procedures with a consistent deportation of persons not in need of protection”.
SVP President Marco Chiesa (48) had demanded that asylum seekers who had entered the country illegally be deported to an African country. He referred to the example of Great Britain. Shortly before Christmas, a court ruled that the British government’s plans to deport migrants who had entered the country illegally to Rwanda in East Africa were lawful. The project does not violate the Geneva Refugee Convention.
London wants to outsource asylum procedures
Britain had signed a controversial deal with Rwanda under former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson (58) to fly asylum seekers to the East African country. In the future, their asylum applications should be examined in Rwanda and not in Great Britain. Similar plans have been discussed in Denmark for some time.
A similar project should now also be examined in Switzerland, Chiesa demands. This could significantly relieve the local asylum system. Because the Schengen-Dublin system does not work. This is shown by the unilateral breach of contract by the new Italian government.
Outsourcing is “not feasible” for the federal government
Because new migrants are constantly arriving via the Mediterranean, Italy is no longer taking back Dublin refugees for the time being. Switzerland is currently unable to repatriate 184 people, although Italy would be responsible as the country of entry according to the Dublin Agreement. For the cantons, the decision comes at a moment when they are already reaching their limits when it comes to accommodating the many asylum seekers.
The Federal Council does not want to move away from its previous asylum policy. He considers an outsourcing of the asylum procedure “still to be unfeasible”. This would not only raise complex legal questions. Agreements would also be needed with third countries that would be willing to set up appropriate processing centers in their country.
“In addition, guarantees would have to be obtained from these states that adequate procedural standards would be observed and human rights would be respected,” the government emphasized in its response to similar demands. And she makes no secret of the fact that she does not want to believe in it: “The Federal Council currently does not consider such agreements to be realistic.”
Baume-Schneider will hardly tighten the screw
Rather, the Federal Council seems to share the concerns of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “according to which asylum seekers transferred to Rwanda do not have access to a fair and efficient procedure for determining refugee status”.
The government around the former FDP Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter (59) prefers to refer to the Swiss asylum reform of 2019, which has led to a significant decrease in obviously unfounded asylum applications. Only around two percent of all asylum applications in Europe are currently being made in Switzerland. The Federal Council intends to continue along this path. It is hard to imagine that SP Federal Councilor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (59) will tighten the screw here as the new Minister of Justice.
Italy has not complied with the previous announcement
In addition, the Swiss authorities assume that Italy will soon take back Dublin refugees. It was reported that this would be the case again from Christmas. “Christmas is over now,” admits SEM spokesman Wyss, “but it is important to emphasize that Italy has not accepted any Dublin transfers over the holidays up to and including Epiphany on January 6 in recent years.”
“The SEM expects that the suspension will be lifted after the holidays,” Wyss clarifies. “This expectation is shared by other affected Dublin states.”