Council of States also does not discuss new asylum practice for Afghan women
Published: Wednesday, Dec 20th 2023, 09:40
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Like the National Council on Tuesday, the Council of States on Wednesday also postponed consideration of a motion on the new asylum practice for Afghan women until later. The small chamber also decided to first have the motion examined by the responsible committee.
The Council of States adopted the corresponding motion by Andrea Schönenberger-Gmür (center/LU) without opposition. The Lucerne member of the Council of States justified her motion by stating that there were many unanswered questions regarding the admission of Afghan women seeking asylum.
If the motion is referred to the Council of States' Political Institutions Committee (SPK-S), it can then make a broad-based assessment of the issue. For the time being, the treatment of a motion by former Neuchâtel FDP Councillor of States Philippe Bauer, which was taken over by Lucerne FDP Councillor of States Damian Müller, has been postponed.
Bauer and Müller want the Federal Council to reverse the new asylum practice introduced this summer by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) when dealing with Afghan women. Müller told the Council that the initial situation was actually clear, but that he could live with Gmür-Schönenberger's proposal.
On Tuesday, the National Council sent a motion by Zurich SVP National Councillor Gregor Rutz to the relevant committee for preliminary examination. It is almost identical to that of Bauer/Müller. There, too, the extraordinary session forced by the SVP on how to deal with Afghan women seeking asylum was over after a few minutes.
Cause: Taliban takeover
In July of this year, the SEM decided to grant asylum to women from Afghanistan as a rule, following a recommendation from the European Asylum Agency (EUAA). The situation for women and girls in Afghanistan has deteriorated continuously since the Taliban came to power. The basic rights of women are severely restricted.
Bauer, Müller and Rutz believe that this decision by the SEM could have a "pull effect" for Afghan women who have fled to other countries. The asylum situation in Switzerland is tense. Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider told the Council of States on Wednesday that so far there are no signs of an increase in asylum applications from Afghan women.
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