Minister pushes for tighter asylum rules

Asylum seekers should not be able to submit several applications in a row to come to Switzerland, Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf says.

In interviews with the Mittelland and Südostschweiz newspapers published on Saturday, the minister said asylum requests should be carried out in a simplified, written procedure.

“Asylum seekers, whose applications have been denied repeatedly, keep coming back for up to ten years,” she told the newspapers. Last year there were 1,428 applications submitted more than once.

Debate over asylum procedures has included suggestions that no person be allowed to apply for asylum at a Swiss embassy abroad. Widmer-Schlumpf said she is not committed to that idea but that such requests should count toward the number of times a person applies.

The minister said Switzerland could see more Tamils applying for asylum from Sri Lanka though an increase is not certain.

People from the southwest of the island or the Colombo area who are not in danger would likely be denied. People from the war-ravaged north and east portions of the island would probably not be sent home.

swissinfo.ch with agencies