The village with a soft spot for asylum seekers

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Eritreans make up the majority of asylum seekers at the shelter. Marco Zanoni

Donations from the villagers Marco Zanoni

The shelter's residents prepare their own food. Marco Zanoni

What’s for dinner? Marco Zanoni

The centre houses several families. Marco Zanoni

Space is limited for the 150 or so asylum seekers. Marco Zanoni

Marco Zanoni

The password is "we-are-good". Marco Zanoni

In the morning residents can sign up to do odd jobs in the centre. Marco Zanoni

The village supermarket also serves as a meeting point. Marco Zanoni

The centre is jointly managed by Doris Mühlemann and Martin Trachsel. Marco Zanoni

Pastor Christine Bär is the mayor. She doesn’t belong to a political party. Marco Zanoni

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Projects to house asylum seekers are seldom welcomed by the local population. However, that was not the case for the Bernese village of Riggisberg, which has been hosting 125 asylum seekers since last summer.

They come from Eritrea, Syria, Egypt, Somalia, Turkey and other countries in turmoil and now live in a transit shelter not far from the centre of this village of 2,500 inhabitants, surrounded by hills and farmland.

Riggisberg is a conservative place and four of its councillors are from the conservative right Swiss People’s Party. Its residents had voted in favour of the February 2014 initiative to impose immigration quotas on EU workers.

So it was all the more surprising when the council voted unanimously in July 2014 to place the old army barracks at the disposal of the asylum seekers. The residents were informed of this decision through leaflets and a letter.

Even though not everyone was happy, there was no significant opposition and the villagers and refugees appear to coexist peacefully.

(Photos: Marco Zanoni, Text: Gaby Ochsenbein/swissinfo.ch)