There are now external complaints desks for asylum seekers and employees in the federal asylum centers in Basel and Zurich. The pilot project will last 18 months and cost CHF 750,000.
There have always been allegations, some of an anonymous nature, suggesting pretty crude things, Federal Bureau of Migration (SEM) spokesman Reto Kormann told Radio SRF on Monday. The complaints office wants to prevent this. The complaints are not only about violence, but also about hygienic conditions or eating the wrong food for religious reasons.
Two dozen complaints have already been received
The operator of the complaints office is the Schweizer Arbeiterhilfswerk (SAH). The SEM funds the position and has the authority to instruct and supervise the SAH. The SAH reports to the SEM every three months and makes recommendations. The SEM will comment on this in writing and investigate changes, the spokesperson continues. The complaints desks have been in operation since the beginning of November. Since then, two dozen reports have come in, says Kormann.
The Swiss Refugee Aid (SFH) welcomes this project, SFH media spokeswoman Eliane Engeler told Radio SRF. It is hoped that this will improve practice.
But Engeler sees a problem: “The control room model has the handicap that the SEM ultimately checks itself.” It is important that the SEM creates trust and transparency. It is also questionable whether the SEM investigates the complaints. And that measures are taken if necessary in the event of violent incidents, said the SFH spokeswoman. (SDA)