dispute over refugees
Switzerland should put pressure on Italy
The asylum situation is tense. To make matters worse, Italy is delaying the processes. The State Political Commission of the National Council demands that Switzerland must finally defend itself against this.
Published: 8 minutes ago
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Border guards keep picking up illegal migrants at Chiasso train station. However, they still cannot be brought back to Italy.
Daniel BallmerEditor Politics
Central National Councilor Marco Romano (40) has had enough. “We finally have to put pressure on Italy,” says the President of the State Political Commission (SPK-N). Our neighbor to the south has been blocking things for about six weeks now. Because new migrants are constantly arriving from across the Mediterranean, the new right-wing government of Giorgia Meloni (45) is no longer taking back Dublin refugees. According to the Dublin Agreement, Italy would be responsible as the country of entry.
Now the SPK-N has taken a look at the situation at the border in Chiasso TI itself – together with the new Minister of Asylum Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (59). The conclusion is clear: In view of the high number of new asylum applications and the ongoing movement of refugees from Ukraine, the situation is tense. The cantons on the southern and eastern borders are particularly challenged.
Italy is delaying all asylum processes
Due to the very high utilization and the correspondingly low care key in the centers, the commission is primarily concerned with the care of the large number of unaccompanied minors and with medical care, Romano writes in his report. And: The Commission would like better cooperation with Italy.
At the moment, however, Italy is delaying all asylum processes, says SPK President Romano to Blick: “There are far fewer staff on site and they work very slowly and bureaucratically.” It can’t go on like this. “It’s not going the way it should.”
“There has been zero pressure so far”
Italy is trying to put pressure on other European countries to take on more refugees. In Italy itself, the recording capacities are exhausted. “I can understand that,” says Romano. “But it can’t be that Switzerland is now suffering from it.”
So far, the Swiss authorities have reacted very cautiously, says Romano: “There has been zero pressure so far.” That urgently needs to change now. Switzerland must, for example, seek talks with Germany and Austria in order to proceed together. “We have to put pressure on so that something happens,” he says. The President of the Commission has announced a corresponding initiative for the coming spring session.