Former police commander advises the federal government: How to tackle criminal asylum seekers harder

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In Müllheim TG and Wigoltingen TG, more and more thieves roamed the streets last December. At night they broke into cars, garages and houses. It turned out that the perpetrators were a small group of asylum seekers. They come from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco and would be housed in federal asylum centers. The Thurgau cantonal police were able to arrest two suspects that same night.

Last year, the Federal Office for Migration (SEM) also noticed that crimes committed by asylum seekers were increasing – and responded: SEM boss Christine Schraner Burgener (60) commissioned Thomas Würgler (69) to develop recommendations on how to better deal with delinquent asylum seekers can be challenged. Würgler knows his way around criminals. He was commander of the Zurich cantonal police for eleven years.

Released quickly

Blick was given access to Würgler’s article citing the Public Information Act. In it, the lawyer confirms that “some serious perpetrators”, often from the Maghreb, are causing security problems in and around the federal asylum centers. At the same time, only a few delinquent, rejected asylum seekers are taken into custody – and the detention places for rejected asylum seekers were only about half full last year, as responsible Minister of Justice Beat Jans (59) said at the start of the hearing. week.

According to justice expert Würgler from Zurich, the small group of criminal asylum seekers commits all kinds of minor crimes, such as car burglaries, shoplifting and bodily harm. However, they do not end up behind bars for these individual crimes, but are often released after questioning by the police.

This is also because in certain cantons the judiciary is overloaded and files are piling up at the Public Prosecution Service. It can sometimes take months before the files are processed. The perpetrator may have committed more crimes in the meantime or may have gone into hiding for a long time.

The cantons decide how to proceed

Würgler therefore promotes closer cooperation between the authorities, in addition to the already tightened police measures around the asylum seeker centers. The model is the canton of Bern. The Public Prosecution Service of Bern checks whether an asylum seeker has been delinquent several times. In this case, the authorities may immediately ask the SEM and the cantonal migration authority about the status of the person’s asylum application. If this is rejected, he can be immediately transferred to deportation detention, unless, for example, his state of health dictates otherwise. According to experts, this is a promising way to eliminate intensive perpetrators.

To ensure that intensive offenders in other regions are not simply released, Würgler recommends introducing the Bern method throughout Switzerland. And he has the full support of the responsible SP councilor Jans. During his appearance before the media in Ticino, he promised to take consistent action against problematic asylum seekers. However, it is the responsibility of the cantonal authorities whether and how they actually want to do this. Jans tries to get the cantons to participate in round tables.

The federal government cannot force the cantons, but a comparison of the cantons should show in a few months which cantons are making progress and which cantons are more cautious when it comes to detentions and deportations. In the less research-oriented cantons, public pressure is likely to become intense.

Source:Blick