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The demands of asylum organizations for participation could be boosted thanks to the large number of refugees from Ukraine.
The history of the participation – the right to have a say – of refugees in the design of the Swiss asylum process is not exactly one of the best-researched subject areas. Historian Jonathan Pärli knows that too. “First you probably think of the language barriers,” says Pärli, who has dealt intensively with the topic.
Because at first glance it seems clear: If you want to have a say, you first have to be able to express yourself. But exactly this argument with the language barrier is not correct, says the historian. “For example, many people from Francophone Africa end up in Romandy.” These cases showed that even without a language barrier, the refugees have no say in the asylum process.
No discussion with the management
For example, Pärli examined a case in Freiburg. In the 1980s, numerous French-speaking refugees from Zaire, the former colony of the Belgian Congo, were housed there in asylum accommodation. The asylum seekers had tried on various occasions to get a discussion with the management – but this was met with little understanding.
There was then an impromptu media conference at which the director of the refugee shelter read the riot act to the dissatisfied people from Zaire. “You are sawing the branch you are sitting on!” said the then French-speaking director of the asylum shelter to the French-speaking men and women from Zaire in French: “Vous sciez la branche sur laquelle vous êtes assis!”
Legend:
Asylum seekers doing handicrafts in an asylum center. Normally, they are not allowed to work during the asylum procedure.
key stone
Refugees have something to be thankful for
It was thus clearly expressed that the refugees had to be grateful and kindly accept the place that had been reserved for them, says historian Pärli. It is precisely this image of the refugee as a passive, humble victim that often stands in the way of active demands for a say.
I hope that in two or three years we will be able to say that something has changed.
It probably still does today, says Anja Klug, head of the Swiss office of the UN refugee agency UNHCR. Even if a slight change is noticeable: she sees a growing willingness on the part of the aid organizations, but also on the part of the Swiss authorities, to at least perceive the perspective of the asylum seekers.
However, in order for the asylum seekers to receive an institutionally anchored, fixed component in the asylum process, patience is needed. “I hope that in two or three years we will be so far that we can say: Something has changed.”
Ukrainian women express their needs
Klug sees the current situation with the many refugees from Ukraine as an opportunity in the area of the right to have a say. Because many Ukrainians are used to raising their voices and expressing needs. And they would more often find open ears. “That could help us to get a little further in this area.”
For a long time, historians have viewed those forced to flee as a faceless mass.
For the historian Pärli, however, there is also a need to catch up in another area: in historiography. In other words, how history books have written about refugees and continue to do so. “Historians have long regarded people who had to flee as a faceless mass – or did not mention them at all.” It is only now that one is looking for old sources that reflect the perspective of the asylum seekers.
In this way, the refugees can at least be given a voice retrospectively in the history books, emphasizes Pärli.