Swiss canton has no space for injured Gaza children

Schwyz government does not want to take in injured children from Gaza Keystone-SDA

There is no room for injured children and their relatives from the Gaza Strip in the canton of Schwyz.

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The asylum structures are already at their limit, he explained in his response to a minor enquiry from the Social Democrats.

According to the response published on Thursday, the voluntary admission of people from Gaza would place an additional burden on cantonal and communal asylum structures, some of which are already overloaded.

The cantonal government points out that in addition to the injured children, accompanying persons would also receive humanitarian asylum and thus unrestricted access to health and social benefits from the outset, with the right to family reunification at a later date.

Security concerns are also expressed in the response, although the people who are allowed to travel from Gaza to Switzerland are checked. The canton stated that it was at least doubtful that security checks on people from the war zone could be complete.

The cantonal government also stated that it recognises the suffering of children in the Gaza Strip. It is in favour of using the available federal funds on the ground.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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