Tougher asylum policies fail to curb immigration levels

Bosnian asylum seekers arriving in St Gallen Keystone

Attempts at making it more difficult for asylum seekers to gain entry into Switzerland and other western European countries have proved largely fruitless, according to a survey by the Swiss Forum for Migration Studies.

The Forum carried out an extensive study into Europe’s six main asylum destinations: Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The investigation focused on the movements of asylum seekers over the past decade, and found that in spite of numerous policy changes, their numbers had remained constant.

The study by the Neuchatel-based Forum pointed out that measures such as barring asylum seekers from working, tougher border controls, and the faster processing of asylum requests had failed to lower the number of immigrants.

The Forum’s director, Professor Sandro Cattacin of the University of Neuchatel, said the results suggested that laws aimed at curbing numbers of asylum seekers were little more than “placebo policies aimed at a domestic audience”.

The Forum added that the effect of stricter asylum policies in one country merely increased the numbers going to its neighbours. It pointed out that for asylum policies to be effective there needed to be a coordinated approach among European countries.

The study also found that inflows of refugees were higher in countries where there were established networks as part of an earlier diaspora.

“The study shows clearly that asylum seeker levels in Switzerland have nothing to do with our legislation or with the welfare we provide,” Jürg Friedan, deputy director of the Federal Office for Refugees, told swissinfo.

“Instead, it is the consequence of our previous immigration policies of the 70s and 80s where we admitted 300,000 guest-workers from the Balkans for economic reasons,” Friedan said.

The report noted that asylum policies have little influence on where asylum seekers chose to settle. It said that 40 per cent do not know what their end destination will be, except that is in Europe.

It added that the decision about where asylum seekers apply for sanctuary is taken mostly by traffickers or, especially in cases where there are established diasporas in the foreign country, by relatives.

The Forum said asylum seekers tended to be drawn to those countries with strong diaspora networks, good welfare provision and liberal policies towards minorities and asylum seekers.

Friedan said the European Union was slowly moving towards a common asylum policy, a position which Switzerland supported because it is one of the top European asylum destinations even though it is not a member of the EU.

“It is of great importance for Switzerland that the southern states provide the same protection and same fundamental rights which the north and central states of Europe provide at present. It’s only in this way that the responsibility of managing the flows of asylum seekers can be shared by European states,” Friedan said.

swissinfo