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Migration law is complex. It changes regularly, is in an interplay between international and national law and branches out into numerous ordinances. An overview of some important terms.
Who is a refugee? This question fixes it the Geneva Refugee Convention, which came into force in Switzerland in 1955. Accordingly, a refugee must be abroad, have broken off relations with their home country and have a well-founded fear of persecution. This must be linked to a so-called frowned upon characteristic, i.e. race, religion, nationality, membership of a certain social group or political conviction. In addition, there must be no reason for exclusion.
Legend:
A child from Ukraine plays on a bed in Muemliswil-Ramiswil in the canton of Solothurn. There, a memorial for contract children was converted into refugee accommodation last spring.
KEYSTONE/Anthony Anex
In Swiss practice, the targeted nature of the prosecution is also mandatory. As the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) writes, a person must be “personally affected by an act of persecution specifically directed against them”. Anyone who is recognized as a refugee receives asylum in Switzerland.
Who is a violent refugee or a climate refugee? The SEM emphasizes: “Unrest, war or civil war do not in themselves represent relevant grounds for asylum.” And further: “If members of the civilian population who are not involved suffer damage as a result of the fighting, they are usually hit as a side effect; the interventions are not directed against them and are therefore not targeted.” Or to put it simply: Those fleeing a civil war are not automatically considered refugees and are therefore not always granted asylum.
The same applies to climate refugees, i.e. people fleeing climatic consequences such as droughts or floods. The SEM explains: “Natural events (supposedly) independent of humans do not fall within the concept of persecution of the refugee definition.”
Who is provisionally admitted? If refugee status is not recognised, according to the SEM, “particular attention” must be paid to checking the admissibility and reasonableness of the expulsion. This can happen, for example, if a person who came to Switzerland because of the civil war in Syria cannot assert any individual reason for flight.
Because the eviction in this case is not reasonable and would violate various human rights regulations, the SEM orders a provisional admission. As the name suggests, this category is not intended for a stay of several years in Switzerland. However, because civil wars often last several years, the provisional admission sometimes also extends over several years. For example, there are currently over 18,000 Syrians in Switzerland, which are provisionally included.
Who is a sans papier? Undocumented people are people who are in a country without a residence permit. According to the Unia trade union, around 150,000 sans-papiers live in Switzerland.
These people often live in precarious living conditions, for example not entitled to social assistance. In order for the stay to be legalized, hardship permits can be used. According to Unia, however, these are only seriously examined by the respective cantonal authorities after five years. The canton of Zurich, for example, uses an uninterrupted period of residence of at least ten years for individuals ahead.