Baume-Schneider reaffirms Swiss commitment to EU asylum reform
Published: Thursday, Nov 2nd 2023, 20:30
Updated At: Friday, Nov 3rd 2023, 00:54
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In Athens, Justice Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider reaffirmed Switzerland's commitment to reforming the European asylum system. She also launched a Swiss-funded aid project for refugees and visited a reception center for refugees on the island of Lesbos.
Baume-Schneider ended a two-day working visit to Greece on Thursday. Migration poses ongoing challenges for the country on the Schengen external border, the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) wrote. These had an impact on the entire Schengen area and thus also on Switzerland.
Financial support
Baume-Schneider spoke with representatives of international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on Wednesday, the first day of her visit, about challenges to Greece posed by migration. On Thursday, she met with Greek Asylum and Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis.
Baume-Schneider reaffirmed Switzerland's commitment to the reform of the European asylum and migration system. The aim of the reform is, among other things, to ease the burden on the states at the Schengen external border. Other topics included border protection - while respecting human rights - and secondary migration.
"In conversation with my colleague, I stressed the importance of respecting the fundamental rights of migrants," Baume-Schneider said in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency. Kairidis had assured her that Greece was "doing everything to respect the law." But Greece, like Italy, expects Europe to shoulder its responsibility in taking in migrants, Baume-Schneider said.
Baume-Schneider had stressed that functioning Dublin procedures were important, the FDJP wrote. There are currently talks with the Greek authorities and with the EU Commission to restore the transfers to Greece, which have been suspended since 2011.
Alongside Italy and Cyprus, Greece has been benefiting for a year from funds from the Migration Framework Credit of the Swiss Cohesion Contribution. Greece will receive CHF 40 million in support under this framework until 2026.
Swiss money for aid offer
Baume-Schneider attended the launch of a Swiss-funded service for migrants and refugees in Athens, together with Asylum and Migration Minister Kairidis and Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis. The "Athens Solidarity Center" is run by a local organization.
It provides support with social assistance, legal counseling, psychological help and job placement. The Swiss contribution amounts to 2.37 million Swiss francs over three years. The project shows the important role of civil society initiatives in supporting refugees, Baume-Schneider was quoted as saying.
Eyeball on Lesbos
At the end of her trip, she took a look at the situation at the Mavrovouni reception center for refugees on Lesvos. According to the FDJP, Switzerland provided assistance there, including a drinking water supply, medical equipment to combat the Covid 19 pandemic.
Baume-Schneider also took a look at a sheltered area for unaccompanied minor asylum seekers co-financed by Switzerland. She also visited a center run by a Swiss NGO for vulnerable women refugees.
Also on Thursday, the organization Médecins sans frontières Switzerland (MSF) published a report on the conditions on and off the Greek islands of Lesbos and Samos. This concerns the period from summer 2021 to summer 2023.
Reports about "Pushbacks
Asylum seekers reported that they were forcibly taken onto boats by the authorities, MSF wrote. Once on the sea, the asylum seekers had to go to so-called life rafts. These had been abandoned to the open sea. MSF bases its findings on interviews with 56 asylum seekers who received medical treatment and its own observations.
Apart from these "pushbacks", there had also been degrading treatment and physical violence at the expense of asylum seekers. Switzerland and other Schengen states must work to ensure that those seeking protection have access to dignified asylum procedures everywhere at Europe's borders, he said.
Tens of thousands of migrants and refugees, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, have entered Greece through the sea and land borders with Turkey in recent years. Greek authorities are repeatedly accused by media and human rights organizations of illegally pushing migrants back into Turkish waters.
©Keystone/SDA
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