Fast-track asylum procedure to be extended for North Africans

Published: Saturday, Feb 17th 2024, 10:01

The federal government wants to extend the 24-hour fast-track procedure for asylum seekers from North African countries to all federal asylum centers. These countries have a very low recognition rate for asylum applications. A corresponding pilot project has been running in Zurich since fall 2023.

The number of asylum seekers from Maghreb countries has fallen by around 34 percent since then. The Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) confirmed this to Keystone-SDA in an article published by Tamedia newspapers on Saturday. In other federal asylum centers, however, the number has risen by a good eight percent in the same period.

According to the report, the authorities in Zurich noticed that asylum seekers were staying for short periods at weekends. The people left before their asylum application had been officially registered, as some did not appear to want an asylum procedure at all. For resource reasons, people are not actually registered at weekends.

"In many cases, it is obviously a question of having accommodation for the weekend," the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) is quoted as saying in the newspapers. According to the SEM, three to four people from Maghreb countries have applied for asylum at the federal asylum center in Zurich during the week in recent months.

Weekend phenomenon

It is noticeable that an above-average number of people report to the Federal Asylum Center Zurich on some weekends, for example on weekends with Sunday sales, at the Züri-Fäscht festival or at the Street Parade. "Unfortunately, some of them stand out due to their delinquent behavior," the SEM is quoted as saying. This is why Justice Minister Beat Jans now wants to extend the 24-hour procedure for asylum seekers from Maghreb countries to all federal asylum centers.

These are the six centers with a procedural function in Zurich, Bern, Boudry NE, Altstätten SG, Chiasso TI and Basel. According to the SEM, it is not known where the people are staying before and after the weekend.

©Keystone/SDA

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Fast-track asylum procedure to be extended for North Africans

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