The EU reform has an impact on our country: should Switzerland now accept fewer asylum seekers?

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That is good news for asylum minister Beat Jans (59). The asylum reform that the EU has just implemented will provide relief for the newly elected Federal Council of the SP. However, for Switzerland only the part relating to the further development of Schengen/Dublin is binding. In the second part, which is about solidarity between European states, Switzerland is free to participate or not. Switzerland will hardly be able to avoid its responsibility at the meetings of the European Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs, the so-called JHA Council.

No one can yet say what the precise impact of the EU pact will be. Of course, here too the devil is in the details. However, the new system is likely to provide some deterrent, both for human smugglers and for people who are not personally threatened with life and limb. Faster procedures should be introduced for them. So you have to take into account that you will be deported again soon.

Detention for migrants

Reception camps are planned at the external border of Schengen. Asylum seekers should be effectively detained here to clarify their identity and origin. It remains to be seen whether this will not be stopped through the courts.

As the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) indicated when asked, it welcomes the strength of the reforms. “This is intended to reduce irregular migration to Europe and secondary migration within the Schengen area,” migration officials said. In German: The SEM hopes that the number of asylum seekers in Switzerland will decrease. But no one knows whether that will actually happen. If everything goes according to plan, the reform will come into effect in 2026 or 2027, according to the SEM.

The devil is in the details

In practice there will probably be a lack of solidarity. If it is decided in one day in a reception center that 60 out of 100 migrants have no prospect of asylum in Europe, is it possible to divide the 40 others? These must be allocated to the Schengen States according to a distribution key. But it is unlikely that countries such as Hungary, but also Sweden and Finland, will be willing to contribute. In this case, a state should be able to purchase its freedom. We are talking about 20,000 euros per migrant.

Assuming Hungary had to hire two of the forty people, it would probably pay out the 40,000 euros owed. Or, if possible, release yourself from the admission obligation by doing support work. But what if a country like Hungary had to take in two thousand instead of two people? Will she then fulfill her obligations? And can migrants who have no prospect of asylum be sent back from an island like Lampedusa?

According to experts, there are increasing signs that even France and Germany are becoming more restrictive when it comes to admissions. Who should intervene? Although crisis arrangements are being considered in the event of a war, such as after the attack on Ukraine, allocation is likely to be difficult even in normal times.

Cherry picking?

But: if Beat Jans in the Council of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs (JI Council) does not want to expose himself to the accusation that Switzerland is once again icing on the cake, he will have to be one of those ministers who offers a hand when accepting asylum seekers.

“I welcome the EU reform to fight irregular migration,” says Eduard Gnesa (70). Blick reached the former director of the Federal Office for Migration on his way back from a European meeting of migration experts in Vienna – where the reform of the EU asylum system was the topic. But there was also agreement on this: it is not yet possible to seriously assess in detail what effects the reform will have.

Source:Blick