Three times as many as last year: Switzerland is suddenly deporting significantly more asylum seekers

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The increase is significant. Switzerland repatriated three times as many people on special flights to their home country in 2023 as the year before. A total of 339 asylum seekers were deported from the country in 49 flights. The majority of the special flights went to EU countries.

This concerned return in the context of the Dublin Asylum Convention, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) confirmed in the Sonntagszeitung. The fact that these flights have increased has a positive effect on costs. In 2022, expenditure per person on a special flight averaged 13,000 francs. Last year that was still 7,300 francs.

And all this happened in the year in which the much-criticized SP federal councilor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (60) was responsible for the asylum file.

Development work pays off

Outside Europe, the special flights also went to Eastern Europe, the Near and Middle East, Central Asia and South America, the newspaper wrote. Last year, 24 repatriations took place by special flight to African countries. Last year there were special deportation flights to Algeria and Iraq for the first time. The SEM wrote in February that the many years of development work and building trust have paid off.

The number of 339 repatriations per special flight was only slightly below the record of 345 repatriations in 2016, the report said. In 2022 there were 28 flights with 124 people. This shows that returns have increased significantly.

Asylum seekers who receive a negative decision have the option to leave Switzerland voluntarily. In return, they will receive at least 1,000 francs to help with their return. A special flight is only used if those affected decide against a voluntary return and do not want to leave the country on a scheduled flight.

Last year, a total of 5,742 people left Switzerland voluntarily or under duress. This corresponds to an increase of 19 percent compared to 2022.

For SVP “pure Sisyphean work”

However, the SVP is not satisfied. Party leader Thomas Aeschi thinks it is good that more rejected asylum seekers have left. “But this is purely Sisyphean work,” he tells the “Sonntagszeitung”. Compared to the 30,000 asylum applications, the approximately 300 deportations per special flight are far too few. Therefore, the SVP’s border protection initiative remains urgently needed.

Refugee aid is something completely different. The increase in the number of special flights is ‘worrying’, says spokesman Lionel Walter. The reason is the coercive measures. With more flights, the likelihood of such flights being used increases. According to reports from the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (NKVF), rejected asylum seekers may resist deportation and therefore be handcuffed. The subject remains controversial. (SDA/dba)

Source:Blick