More asylum seekers claim emergency aid
The number of asylum seekers claiming emergency aid in Switzerland rose slightly in the final quarter of 2004, according to the federal authorities.
Such aid replaced regular welfare benefits for failed asylum seekers a year ago in an effort to force them to leave the country.
The Federal Migration Office said on Monday that 17 per cent of the 3,804 foreigners whose requests for asylum had been rejected received emergency aid. This type of minimal social aid includes shelter, food and medical consultations.
The figures are up one per cent on the third quarter and up two per cent on the second quarter of last year.
The figures come a day after Justice Minister Christoph Blocher said he would not proceed with his plans to amend the constitution to eliminate such aid for failed asylum seekers.
Police also arrested 553 rejected asylum seekers during the last three months of 2004, most of them for staying in Switzerland illegally. About six per cent were detained on suspicion of drug-related crimes or theft.
Asylum down
The Migration Office said that the rise in emergency aid claims came despite a 30 per cent fall in the number of requests for asylum last year.
A spokesman warned that the number of claimants was likely to rise dramatically in the near future.
But he said it was too early to say whether cutting regular welfare benefits for failed asylum seekers had succeeded in persuading them to leave the country.
He added that the number of long-term beneficiaries of emergency aid had dropped, mainly because people had either stopped claiming aid or were caught by police. But it was impossible to say how many of them had gone underground.
In all, the total cost of emergency aid between April and December 2004 was SFr1.7 million ($1.5 million).
Blocher’s U-turn
Last month the Federal Court ruled that a canton’s refusal to grant emergency aid to uncooperative asylum seekers was in breach of the constitution.
In response Blocher announced plans to change the constitution, but he has now changed his mind.
Blocher told a parliamentary committee that the cabinet had agreed to propose further modifications to the asylum law.
He said details had still to be resolved but that the cabinet was willing to consider new regulations to combat abuses of the asylum system.
Parliament is due to continue debate on amendments to the country’s asylum law later this year.
The Senate in March approved a series of tougher measures, including an extension of an existing ban on welfare benefits and doubling the period of time uncooperative asylum seekers can be held in pre-deportation detention.
swissinfo with agencies
As of last April foreigners who have been denied asylum are no longer eligible for regular welfare benefits.
Instead they can claim a minimum amount of emergency aid.
The measure was introduced in a bid to tighten the Swiss asylum law and drive rejected asylum seekers out of the country.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
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.