Rejected Eritreans are not deported to third countries
Published: Tuesday, Dec 19th 2023, 13:20
Updated At: Tuesday, Dec 19th 2023, 13:20
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Switzerland will not deport Eritreans with a rejected asylum application to a third country such as Rwanda. On Tuesday, the National Council rejected a motion calling for a pilot project for such deportations.
The motion by Lucerne FDP Councillor of States Damian Müller is therefore now dead. The Council of States had approved the motion last June.
Müller had justified the motion with the statement that it was about people who had undergone an asylum procedure in Switzerland and received a negative decision and who did not need international protection. They occupied places for refugees who needed protection.
This does not mean outsourcing the asylum procedure. The deportation of Eritreans from Switzerland to their home country is currently failing because the country in the Horn of Africa refuses to forcibly repatriate compatriots. This has been the case for years.
Müller's motion also called for the Federal Council to submit a report on the pilot project to parliament after one year. Müller claimed that the Federal Council had already attempted to conclude a transit agreement with Senegal in 2003.
Legally impossible according to Baume-Schneider
Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider countered Müller on Tuesday in the National Council that Switzerland lacked the legal basis to implement such a project. According to the Asylum Act, asylum seekers can only be deported to a third country if they have a connection to that country.
The UK and Italy encountered major difficulties with their attempts to outsource asylum procedures to Rwanda and Albania respectively. These attempts are always fraught with great uncertainty and are costly.
Due to strong opposition in Senegal itself, the transit agreement between Switzerland and Senegal mentioned by Müller was never ratified and did not come into force, the Federal Councillor continued.
According to the head of the FDJP, 293 Eritreans are currently in the process of being repatriated in Switzerland. They have only benefited from emergency aid. These are difficult circumstances and experience shows that only a small proportion of these Eritreans remain in Switzerland in the long term.
The National Council voted against the motion by 96 votes to 91 with 6 abstentions.
Federal Council must intervene in Brussels
Damian Müller, a member of the Council of States, was able to celebrate success with two other motions in the National Council on Tuesday. The Council supported his demand that the Federal Council should make representations to Brussels regarding the return of asylum seekers to Algeria.
The national government is to formally request Belgium to apply Article 25a of the Schengen Code to Algeria. According to Müller, this article aims to take measures against countries that do not cooperate in the area of return.
The National Council voted very narrowly, by 93 votes to 91 with 6 abstentions, against the will of the Federal Council. Elisabeth Baume-Schneider had said in the Council that cooperation with the Algerian authorities was currently "exemplary". The Council of States has already approved this proposal.
The National Council clearly said yes to the demand that the Federal Council intervene in Brussels regarding Italy. The country is currently not taking back any refugees from Switzerland who have reached Europe in Italy. The Council of States has also already said yes to Müller's motion.
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