Rejected asylum seekers end 19-day protest
Illegal immigrants in Zurich on Wednesday said they would leave the city's St Jakob Church, two days after ending their unwelcome occupation of another church.
Around 150 rejected asylum seekers had been holed up in the Prediger Church until Monday before moving to the St Jakob Church.
In a news release, the protestors said they were ending their 19-day action following “partial success”.
A special commission will hear the grievances of illegal immigrants in response to the protest but there are no signs the canton’s rules will be relaxed.
The would-be immigrants have alleged that laws in Zurich are more draconian than in other cantons. Rejected asylum seekers receive SFr8.50 ($7.70) per day in supermarket vouchers.
Some 300,000 people live illegally in Switzerland, with an estimated 30,000 in canton Zurich.
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