The State Secretariat for MigrationExternal link received 6,113 such requests in 2017, reported newspaper NZZ am Sonntag. In comparison, there were 4,115 in 2016 and 3,072 in 2015.
According to the Dublin agreement, a person can file only one asylum application – as a rule, in the first country where the migrant was registered.
Most of 2017’s requests for Switzerland to take back asylum seekers came from Germany (2,932) and France (1,429). Switzerland approved 2,485 of these readmission applications. The migration office rejected the others on the grounds that they did not meet the Dublin agreement’s requirements.
Also under the Dublin system – Switzerland has sent 28,000 asylum seekers back to other European countries since 2008.
Trump made direct financial demands during call with Swiss president
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During the telephone call between Karin Keller-Sutter and Donald Trump on July 31, Trump demanded direct payments from Switzerland, according to an investigation by SonntagsBlick.
Demonstrators in Swiss capital demand better access to mental health care
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Thousands of people demonstrated in Berne on Saturday afternoon against long waiting lists, the lack of therapy places and the absence of a clear pricing structure.
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Swiss companies' expectations for salary growth are down by 0.3 percentage points compared to a year ago, according to a survey conducted by the Center for Economic Research (KOF).
One Swiss national killed in plane accident in southern France
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A Swiss national was killed alongside a German national in a crash involving two light aircraft on Saturday afternoon in Saint-Pons, south-eastern France.
Over 6,000 apprenticeships remain unfilled in Switzerland
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By mid-August, which is the start of the Swiss school year, some 6,400 apprenticeship vacancies remain, mainly in the construction, catering and machinery industries.
Japanese film Tabi to Hibi wins Golden Leopard at Locarno
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The Japanese film Tabi to Hibi by director Sho Miyake won the Golden Leopard, the top prize in the international competition, on the final day of the Locarno Festival.
Switzerland could produce up to 5Mt of emissions annually by 2050
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Two to five megatonnes of CO2 equivalents per year: this is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that Switzerland is still expected to produce annually in 2050, a new study shows.
US tariffs putting 100,000 jobs at risk in Switzerland
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US tariffs of 39% on Swiss imports will directly affect 100,000 jobs, mainly in the watchmaking, machinery, metals, and food industries, economiesuisse warns.
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Switzerland has released CHF4 million (nearly $5 million) to help Sudan, which has been severely affected by famine and cholera.
Switzerland rejects new Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory
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Switzerland says it rejects the announced construction of thousands of housing units in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank.
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Swiss justice minister sees door opening for refugee resettlement
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European Union interior ministers met on Thursday in Sofia, Bulgaria to re-visit the thorny issue of resettling thousands of refugees from conflict-torn parts of Africa and the Middle East. Since Non-EU member Switzerland was invited to participate because it is part of the so-called Dublin agreement governing asylum policy across Europe. + Here’s how another…
Swiss-led meeting calls for better protection of refugees
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European and African states as well as the EU and the UN have agreed to improve the protection of migrants, notably the situation in Libyan detention.
ICRC hopes for consensus, resettlement deal at migration conference
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Peter Maurer told the SonntagsBlick newspaper that he finds it a shame that the world’s interior ministers are “still mostly focused on controlling migration” instead of on improving the humanitarian situation in countries like Libya, where many migrants gather in dangerous circumstances before attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. “We are especially interested…
Switzerland’s defence of the Dublin accords is not a coincidence
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Although Switzerland is not one of the main destination countries for asylum seekers, between 2009 and 2014 it was the country that transferred the most migrants to another EU state. This practice is part of the Dublin accords, signed in 1990 and adopted by Switzerland in December 2008. According to this agreement, an asylum application…
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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.