- In 2023, Switzerland repatriated three times as many people by special flight than in the previous year.
- A total of 339 asylum seekers were brought out of the country in 49 flights.
- The majority of the special flights headed for EU countries.
These were returns within the framework of the Dublin Asylum Agreement, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) confirmed a report in the “Sonntagszeitung” at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency.
The fact that these flights have increased has a positive effect on costs. In 2022, expenses per person on a special flight amounted to an average of 13,000 francs. Last year it was still 7,300 francs.
Deportation flights to Algeria and Iraq for the first time
Outside Europe, the special flights also went to Eastern Europe, the Near and Middle East, Central Asia and South America, as the newspaper wrote. There were 24 repatriations by special flight to African countries last year.
Last year there were special deportation flights to Algeria and Iraq for the first time. The SEM wrote in February that the many years of development work and trust-building had paid off.
Legend:
According to the SEM, the majority of the special deportation flights were returns within the framework of the Dublin Asylum Agreement.
KEYSTONE/Christian Beutler
The number of 339 repatriations by special flight was only slightly below the record of 345 repatriations in 2016, it said. In 2022 there were 28 flights with 124 people. This shows a significant increase in returns.
Over 5,700 rejected people left Switzerland in 2023
Asylum seekers who receive a negative decision have the option to leave Switzerland voluntarily. In return, they will receive at least 1,000 francs as return assistance. A special flight is only used if those affected decide against a voluntary return and do not want to leave the country on a scheduled flight.
A total of 5,742 people left Switzerland voluntarily or forcibly last year. This corresponds to an increase of 19 percent compared to 2022.