Swiss seek migration deal with Georgia
Switzerland and Georgia have agreed a declaration of intent for a partnership on migration.
On a visit to Tbilisi, Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding to govern various aspects of the planned cooperation.
She met her Georgian counterpart, Rati Bregadze, and the interior minister, Vakhtang Gomelauri.
The Swiss justice ministry said the agreement is boosting a long-standing partnershipExternal link on migration issues between the two countries.
Switzerland is also active in peace promotion in Georgia and has had a mandate since 2009 to represent the diplomatic interests of Russia in Tbilisi and those of Georgia in Moscow.
The migration partnership with Georgia is the seventh of its kind signed between Switzerland and another country since 2009.
The aim of such cooperation dealsExternal link is a “comprehensive global approach to migration while taking into account Switzerland’s won interests, those of the partner country and those of the migrants themselves”, the State Secretariat for Migration states.
In the past critics argued that Switzerland is focusing too much on the deportation of rejected asylum seekers and not insisting enough on humanitarian rights in partner countries.
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