Petition to help illegal immigrants handed in
A petition in support of illegal immigrants or “sans papiers”, which has gathered 20,000 signatures, has been handed in to the federal authorities.
The group behind the move – the sans papiers movement – is demanding an end to Switzerland’s “hypocrisy” over the issue.
The text calls for the regularisation of the status of illegal immigrants as well as an end to forced expulsions.
According to the organisation Solidarité sans frontières, there are up to 100,000 sans papiers in Switzerland. Their contribution to the work force is accepted, but they have no rights, it is argued.
The petition is supported by around 100 organisations, including the centre-left Social Democratic Party, the Green party and the union Unia. On October 1, around 5,000 people demonstrated in the capital Bern over the sans papiers issue.
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