Refugee aid rejects tightening of the asylum system
Published: Wednesday, Feb 21st 2024, 15:20
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The Swiss Refugee Council (SFH) rejects the tightening of the asylum system planned by Justice Minister Beat Jans. The measures would contradict the principles of asylum law and the Geneva Refugee Convention, the umbrella organization announced on Wednesday.
Access to an asylum procedure and suitable accommodation must be granted to all asylum seekers at all times - regardless of the chances of success of the application, wrote the SFH. The federal asylum structures should not be relieved at the expense of those seeking protection. Asylum seekers should not be turned away and left homeless.
Jans envisages that in future, asylum seekers from countries of origin with very low prospects of asylum recognition will have to justify their application in writing in advance. However, applicants lack the knowledge of the Swiss legal system to do so. The SFH therefore rejects this. According to the aid organization, clarifying and verifying grounds for asylum is a core function of the asylum procedure. Only in this way can the need for protection be correctly clarified.
The SFH is also critical of the 24-hour procedure. This is to be introduced throughout Switzerland by the end of April. With a further acceleration of the already tightly timed asylum procedure, there is a risk that asylum applications and reasons for fleeing will not be thoroughly clarified - and that incorrect decisions could be made. The procedure currently being tested at the Federal Asylum Center in Zurich must be subjected to a quantitative and qualitative evaluation before it is introduced throughout Switzerland.
Jans announced the reforms in the asylum sector to the media on Tuesday after visiting the federal asylum center in Chiasso TI. He wants to defuse the tense situation in the asylum centers with various measures. In order to counteract the abuse of asylum structures, asylum applications should in future only be able to be submitted during the week. Criminal asylum seekers are also to be dealt with more severely.
©Keystone/SDA
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