That makes Switzerland different from Germany

Since the New Year’s Eve riots, Germany has been debating integration – after all, the majority of the violently chaotic people were male and had a migration background. For the German migration researcher Cihan Sinanoglu, it is clear that the failed integration is a social problem, not a cultural one. In Germany, for example, not everyone has equal access to education, work and health.

An attitude that Swiss migration expert Eduard Gnesa largely shares. Germany, under Chancellor Angela Merkel (68), made mistakes in the aftermath of the refugee crisis in 2015 and 2016, according to the former director of the Federal Office for Immigration Questions and the Swiss Special Envoy for International Migration Cooperation.

Germany made mistakes

The confession in itself was not wrong, because “it was mainly people from Syria who were in need”. After that, however, not everything went optimally with the integration. “For example, there were also many unaccompanied minors among the refugees. To provide this perspective, the acquisition of the national language and the start of a career must be promoted.” From the migration expert’s point of view, Germany has done too little here.

With us, however, the situation is different. “In Switzerland we have a good education system. Particularly dual vocational training also offers young migrants good opportunities to enter the labor market,’ says the former director of the Federal Bureau for Immigration Questions, a predecessor of the current State Secretariat for Migration (SEM).

Various measures

Good experiences have been gained, for example, with the pre-integration process for refugees – in which refugees and persons temporarily admitted are specifically and practically prepared for an apprenticeship. Ukrainian refugees and other immigrant groups can also follow such pre-education.

The federal government also provides money to the cantons for language courses and other integration measures: the cantons receive an integration allowance of CHF 18,000 for each recognized refugee and temporarily admitted person – ie asylum seekers whose application has been rejected but who cannot be deported.

There are also language courses in Germany, but until a few years ago, certain groups of migrants, such as people on temporary admission, were excluded. They hardly had any opportunities on the labor market.

No ghettoization

Expert Gnesa is convinced that promoting integration pays off. But there are other points that ensure that Switzerland is on the right track. According to Gnesa, this also has something to do with the situation in Switzerland: “We don’t have large cities with neighborhoods with such a high percentage of foreigners as Berlin.”

But in Switzerland, care was always taken to prevent “ghettoization”. Gnesa explains: “People keep asking why asylum seekers from French-speaking countries of origin are not allocated to Romandy, where integration is easier because of the language.”

However, if all francophones were housed in western Switzerland, this could lead to parallel societies. “To avoid this, they are also housed in German-speaking Switzerland or in Ticino, where they have to learn the local language and integrate into society.”

Strict Switzerland that creates incentives

In addition, Switzerland is stricter than other countries: “People with rejected asylum applications are consistently deported from Switzerland. In the German states, on the other hand, this was much less the case,” says Gnesa. In addition, there are the accelerated Swiss asylum procedures, which were introduced under the recently resigned federal councilor Simonetta Sommaruga (62).

But also for this, the SEM, then under the leadership of State Secretary Mario Gattiker (66), used the so-called 48-hour or accelerated procedure for asylum seekers from countries with a low degree of protection. So if you come from a country where practically no one is granted asylum because the people there are not threatened with persecution, your application has already been given priority.

From Gnesa’s point of view, this different practice is one of the reasons why Germany and Britain are more popular destinations for migrants than Switzerland. Today, many asylum seekers who have traveled through Italy or Austria on their way to Northern or Western Europe only want to pass through Switzerland.

Eight migration partnerships

Eduard Gnesa, former Special Envoy for Migration, does not forget to mention the importance of the Migration Partnerships, in which he played a key role in the negotiations. They enable the reintegration of rejected asylum seekers in their original homeland and the training of young people. They support development projects in partner countries and the fight against human trafficking. “Part of the partnerships are also repatriation agreements, with which rejected asylum seekers can be returned voluntarily, but also against their will if necessary,” Gnesa emphasizes. Because if a rejected asylum seeker knows that he may be forcibly sent back to his country of origin, he is more willing to declare his willingness to return and he can benefit from first aid in his home country.

Switzerland has now concluded such partnerships with eight countries, including Balkan countries such as Kosovo and Serbia, but also Sri Lanka, Tunisia and Nigeria.