Asylum centers in Africa: how realistic are the SVP plans really?

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Europe has been struggling with the refugee issue for years. And with the war in Ukraine, things got even worse. However, no solution is yet in sight. By motion, SVP group chair Marco Chiesa (48) calls for “UNHCR-compliant processing centers outside the European Union”. These should put a stop to smugglers and prevent asylum seekers in Europe from having to wait years for a decision on their application.

Sounds pretty plausible at first. But how realistic and effective are such centers really? The former head of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), Eduard Gnesa (70), has serious doubts.

The idea of ​​processing centers at the external borders

The demand is not new – Denmark tried to deport illegally immigrated refugees to centers outside the EU several years ago. But the project was canceled prematurely because there were too many obstacles.

And Britain also had plans to detain illegal immigrants and immediately deport them to an asylum seekers’ center in Rwanda, Africa. But this project also seems to fail.

A plethora of problems

It starts with choosing a possible location for such centers. “Which countries should it be? Do we want to be dependent on countries like Libya or Turkey, which could leave at any moment or have increasingly higher demands for money?” Gnesa wonders.

Moreover, in such countries it is often difficult to guarantee respect for human rights. “In addition, it would also need domestic political acceptance in those countries,” Gnesa continued.

And even if such a place could be found. Probably the biggest problem is that even years later European states still cannot agree on a distribution key for the refugees. There are still many states that categorically refuse to take in at least some of the fleeing people.

In addition, there are horrendous costs. This is according to a study by the British Home Office. The costs for the repatriation and procedure for a single refugee in Rwanda therefore amounted to the equivalent of 200,000 francs – and are therefore considerably higher than for conventional procedures. “If legal and human rights issues clearly speak against these proposals, the high costs also make no sense,” says Gnesa.

The expert solution

According to the expert, the only realistic solution is to take in and care for the refugees in the neighboring countries of the conflict area in question. According to Gnesa, however, there are two conditions for this: the agreement of the respective neighboring countries and much more support from Europe and international organizations.

But especially the latter report enormous financial problems since the large wave of refugees in 2015. Sometimes hundreds of millions of francs are missing. According to Gnesa, this is why people come to Europe in such large numbers.

There is also a need for “development projects whose main aim is to enable young people to receive an education and provide them with real prospects,” Gnesa continued. Until then, however, a solution to the crisis remains a long way off. (sq)

Source:Blick