Asylum and migration issues await new justice minister
Published: Thursday, Dec 14th 2023, 21:10
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The Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) deals with the issues of civil rights, internal security, asylum and migration. The asylum dossier is likely to challenge the new Minister of Justice Beat Jans right from the start.
REFUGEES: Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, refugees from the East have also been seeking protection in Switzerland - in March 2022, the Federal Council activated protection status S for the first time ever, giving refugees the right to stay without having to go through a proper asylum procedure. At the beginning of November, the Federal Council decided not to revoke the protection status before the beginning of March 2025. At the same time, it set the target that twice as many refugees from Ukraine should take up gainful employment in Switzerland in future. At the same time, the authorities in Switzerland are planning for the eventual revocation of S status.
ASYLUM: The number of applications for asylum under the ordinary procedure rose sharply in late summer and fall, but has recently fallen again somewhat, as the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) recently announced. Migration pressure is unlikely to decrease in the short to medium term. Accommodation for asylum seekers has been at its limit at times in recent months. The decision by the Council of States last summer not to approve a supplementary loan for housing containers for refugees on army bases did not make the task any easier for the federal government. The SVP in particular has repeatedly used the situation in the asylum system to accuse Justice Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider of inactivity in the "asylum chaos".
ISRAEL: The FDJP - together with the DDPS - has been instructed to draw up a proposal for a ban on the radical Islamic organization Hamas by the end of February. The Federal Council intends to implement this ban with a specially created law. This ban gained majority support after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. Justice Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider said last November that the planned law could come into force in around a year's time. In Parliament, the relevant committees of both chambers support a ban on Hamas; the Council of States recently approved the corresponding motion.
E-ID: The new attempt for an E-ID, this time for a state solution, initiated under Elisabeth Baume-Schneider's predecessor Karin Keller-Sutter, is pending in the FDJP. In March 2021, a first attempt at an e-ID failed at the ballot box. A private solution was under discussion at the time. According to polls, security concerns regarding data protection were the decisive factor in the No vote. The dispatch for the state E-ID has been in parliament for a few weeks; it arrived a little later than originally planned.
EXTREMISM: Parliament has proposed a ban on violent symbols. The National Council adopted a motion to criminalize the use and distribution of Nazi symbols. It targeted Nazi gestures and slogans, signs and flags, as well as writings, audio and video recordings containing such symbols. The responsible committee of the Council of States wants to go further and prohibit extremist symbols. This should not apply to signs of National Socialism or other racially discriminatory, extremist and violence-glorifying symbols.
AIRPASSENGER DATA: Switzerland is to exchange air passenger data with the EU in future. At the beginning of November 2023, the Federal Council adopted the necessary negotiating mandate. The Federal Council wrote that such an agreement would help to improve the exchange of information in police cooperation. It should also protect Switzerland as a business location and ensure internal security in the Schengen area. Data that passengers provide when making a booking will be used: Names, contact details and travel route. According to the Federal Council, this information is an important tool in the fight against cross-border terrorism and organized crime.
©Keystone/SDA
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