To deter North Africans: Baume-Schneider tests the asylum turbo

class=”sc-cffd1e67-0 fmXrkB”>

The SVP is constantly critical of asylum minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (59): she is partly responsible for the asylum chaos and is even a security risk for our country. To counter this criticism, the federal councilor is now testing a tougher approach. Certain asylum applications must be processed quickly – within 24 hours, write the Tamedia newspapers.

Since last week, a pilot test has been running in Zurich until the end of February 2024. Asylum seekers from Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia are affected. If you come to Switzerland, the asylum procedure starts immediately. All steps for an asylum decision must be completed within one day. Baume-Schneider wants to increase efficiency in this way. Ultimately, it’s all about deterrence.

Asylum seekers from North Africa very rarely receive a positive decision – and yet they make up a significant proportion of all applications. More than one in five applications came from them in 2023 and less than two percent were granted asylum. The only exception are people from Libya. Of these, 10 percent were recognized as refugees.

Asylum seekers are still staying longer

However, it remains unclear how effective this measure is. There used to be faster asylum procedures. From 2012 they were called 48-hour procedures. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) cannot tell Tamedia how many people have been deterred by this.

Ultimately, the asylum seekers always stayed in Switzerland for more than two days. This is due to the difficulty in purchasing paper in the country of origin in question. With the latest turbo acceleration this should be no different.

Is deterrence not that effective?

Swiss refugee aid is critical of the turbo process. There is a risk that the reasons for asylum are not sufficiently clarified. Furthermore, research shows that when choosing a destination country, it is not procedures that are central, but rather factors such as family, community, language and cultural proximity.

The principles of the rule of law would also apply in the turbo process, the SEM told Tamedia newspaper. This includes the right to free legal representation, all procedural guarantees and therefore also the right to appeal against a negative asylum decision. Very few people will leave Switzerland after one day.

Baume-Schneider still hopes that her asylum impulse will send a signal – also in domestic politics. In the sense of: Someone should simply come and tell the Minister of Asylum that she is not doing anything. (rba)

Source:Blick