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Shortly before Christmas Eve, the pastor of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Bern, Andreas Nufer, spoke to politicians’ consciences: It’s not about welcoming the whole world into Switzerland, but about letting humanity prevail. Representatives of the SVP and the Center are now calling for a consistent asylum policy.
Tightening asylum policy is currently being discussed across Europe. And in Switzerland too, the treatment of asylum seekers remains one of the controversial topics. In the last week of the winter session, there were a number of corresponding proposals on the agenda of the National Council and the Council of States. The parliamentary debate then continued seamlessly on Friday evening in the “Arena”.
“They simply don’t want to tackle the big problems in the asylum sector. This, although it is very clear where they are,” says SVP National Councilor Benjamin Fischer. To illustrate what he sees as the disastrous situation in the asylum system, he refers to the canton of Thurgau, where burglaries have increased massively and young men from Maghreb countries are responsible in 90 percent of the cases. “We don’t yet have French or German conditions – but we have to prevent it from getting to that point.” Meanwhile, Sibel Arslan’s assessment is different. “It is right that criminals are convicted. But in reality these are isolated cases,” said the National Councilor of the Green Party. The SVP places certain groups of asylum seekers under general suspicion and therefore refuses to provide real solutions. “To speak of asylum chaos is therefore pure populism.”
Whatever the politically tinged assessment of the current situation in the asylum system, certain numbers speak for themselves: there has been an increase in asylum applications recently. In 2022, around 24,500 applications were submitted, not including people with protection status S. The State Secretariat for Migration SEM expects around 30,000 asylum applications for the current year. The FDP and SVP are using this development as an opportunity to make initiatives in parliament. For example, a motion in the session that just ended wanted to reverse the change in practice of the SEM for Afghan women and girls. The discussion was postponed following the Center’s motion for order. The National Council has, however, accepted a proposal that requires the Federal Council to come up with a concept to increase the number of expulsions and returns.
“We must aim for a return rate of 100 percent,” says Center National Councilor Reto Nause, welcoming the decision from his council. Criminal foreigners are not being deported consistently enough. This needs to be changed as quickly as possible. “For this to succeed, further readmission agreements are needed. The new Minister of Justice, Beat Jans, must fly to the affected countries and discuss this in private with the responsible people,” said Nause. “It’s just one theater,” counters Andreas Nufer. The pastor of the Heiliggeist reformed parish in Bern appeals to humanity in the face of heartbreaking fates. Last week, for example, a family from Bern was deported to Sri Lanka. “The girl played baby Jesus in our Christmas play a few years ago. This year it would have been her little sister’s turn. Both grew up in Switzerland. Now they are no longer here.”
The domestic political discussions surrounding asylum numbers and returns could soon be overtaken by foreign policy developments. A few days ago, the EU agreed on a reform with, among other things, asylum centers at the external borders. Justice Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider spoke of a significant political step. Many are hoping that the tougher approach at the EU’s external borders will provide relief.