Ministers talk of tightening borders
Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga says illegal immigration would be easier to stop if Schengen’s external borders were better controlled.
Sommaruga, who is attending an informal meeting of European Union interior ministers in Poland, told the Swiss News Agency that Switzerland supports all measures which increase the credibility and efficiency of the Dublin Regulation on asylum procedures.
The justice minister said she rejected a proposal to put an end to the practice whereby asylum seekers are returned to the European country they first entered.
Also tabled was a proposal to reintroduce border controls within the Schengen area. Sommaruga said the ministers were in agreement that this would be a last resort move.
Denmark has introduced measures to strengthen customs controls, which include random checks and beefing up inspections at particular crossing points.
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