The first former Guantánamo detainee to be granted Swiss asylum has settled in the country.
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The Uzbek national arrived in January in his host canton of Geneva, the government announced on Tuesday.
The government stressed that he is a free man who has never been charged with any offence; he has committed to learning one of the national languages and intends to look for work to support himself. The man’s identity and location will be kept secret so as to protect his integration into the country, the government noted.
The cabinet agreed in December to grant him asylum on humanitarian grounds. He had spent seven years in the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base.
Switzerland has been in discussions with the US authorities for several months about accepting prisoners released from Guantánamo. The detainees have to be approved by the government and a canton must be found which is willing to receive them.
Another Guantánamo ex-detainee, an Algerian, whose asylum application was rejected by the Swiss Migration Office, won an appeal to Switzerland’s Federal Administrative Court on December 18, and will have his case re-examined.
Switzerland is also studying the case of two brothers from the Chinese province of Xinjiang.
The US government has admitted they were refugees rather than terrorists and the western canton of Jura has said it is ready to accept them. But the Chinese embassy in Bern wants the two men sent back to China.
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Parliamentarians against more Guantánamo inmates
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The security policy committee of the House of Representatives decided by 15 votes to ten to make this general recommendation to the government. Committee president Jakob Büchler said the decision was purely based on security considerations and was not influenced by China’s recent warning to Switzerland not to accept two outstanding applicants to Switzerland who…
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The government, which at one point had looked at accepting three prisoners, said it would allow the Uzbek national to live in Switzerland for “humanitarian reasons”. Canton Geneva has said it is prepared to accept the man. The terms of acceptance are governed by a Memorandum of Understanding that was negotiated with the United States…
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Switzerland is currently studying the case of two brothers from the Chinese province of Xinjiang, who are due to be released as the US-run jail is closed down. They have never been charged with any offence, and the western canton of Jura has said it is ready to accept them. But the Chinese embassy in…
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His moving images of refugees turn our attention to a problem becoming ever more noticeable in Switzerland. Over several months, Pulawski documented the hardships of newly-arrived asylum seekers arriving at the Italian-speaking border town of Chiasso from Italy.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.