Swiss parliament backs plan to deport rejected Eritrean refugees
Justice Minister Beat Jans argued against the idea, but was ignored by a majority of parliamentarians.
Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle
Both chambers of parliament have approved an idea to conclude a transit agreement with a third country – as yet undefined – for the return of rejected Eritrean asylum seekers.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Français
fr
Le Parlement veut renvoyer des Erythréens vers un pays tiers
Original
Eritreans cannot be forced to return to their country, as authorities there categorically refuse such repatriation. This practice has been going on for many years and affects all European countries.
This situation is unacceptable and undermines the credibility of the Swiss asylum system, said Christian Wasserfallen from the centre-right Radical-Liberal Party on Monday. He said everything possible must be done to ensure that the situation, if not completely unblocked, can at least move in the right direction.
The motion by Wasserfallen’s party colleague Petra Gössi calls for Switzerland to conclude a transit agreement with a third country to temporarily send rejected Eritrean asylum seekers there. The Swiss government is thus now tasked with identifying such a country that would be willing to conclude such a transit agreement, as Switzerland tried to do with Senegal in 2002.
At that time, the agreement was to authorise the transit of asylum seekers for a period of three days. This time was to be used to identify them and to obtain an identity document from the consular representation of their country of origin in Senegal.
The left and some centrists in parliament opposed the motion without success on Monday. They criticised the proposal as ineffective and likely very costly.
The government put forward the same argument. In the case of a transit agreement, it is likely that the Eritrean representation in the third country would refuse the request for an identity document, warned Justice Minister Beat Jans. The Eritrean applicants would therefore have to be readmitted once again to Switzerland.
Adapted from French by DeepL/dos
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
What factors should be taken into account when inheriting Swiss citizenship abroad?
Should there be a limit to the passing on of Swiss citizenship? Or is the current practice too strict and it should still be possible to register after the age of 25?
Is your place of origin, your Heimatort, important to you?
Every Swiss citizen has a Heimatort, a place of origin, but many have never visited theirs. What’s your relationship with your Heimatort? What does it mean to you?
Over a quarter of Swiss Catholics consider leaving the church
This content was published on
In Switzerland 27% of Catholics have thought about leaving the church, according to a survey by the Sotomo research centre.
This content was published on
Following the Credit Suisse debacle, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) is adapting its organisation.
This content was published on
The Swiss Armed Forces are training their fighter jets in Bern to fly from a civilian base. The exercise at Bern Airport will last until Wednesday.
Plans materialise for new particle accelerator in Geneva
This content was published on
Preparations for a huge new particle accelerator in Geneva have reached a milestone. After several years of work, a feasibility study for the project has now been finalised.
This content was published on
The value of frozen Russian assets in Switzerland currently stands at CHF7.4 billion ($8.4 billion), the Swiss government announced on Tuesday.
This content was published on
The number of business start-ups in Switzerland accelerated in the first three months of the year, with entrepreneurs being particularly dynamic in Central Switzerland, Basel and Geneva.
Most Swiss authorities want to ban Nazi symbols in public
This content was published on
A majority of Swiss political parties, cantons and associations want to ban the use and distribution of Nazi symbols in public.
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.