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Swiss government to deport rejected asylum seekers from Afghanistan

Federal government wants to deport rejected asylum seekers from Afghanistan
Federal government wants to deport rejected asylum seekers from Afghanistan Keystone-SDA

The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) is changing its asylum policy for men from Afghanistan. Single men with rejected asylum applications can now be deported to Afghanistan under certain circumstances.

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In certain cases, a return to Afghanistan is reasonable, the SEM announced on Thursday. The SEM is basing this adjustment to its deportation policy on current situation analyses. According to these analyses, the security situation has improved significantly compared to the time when the radical Islamist Taliban took power. The analyses also attested to a slight improvement in the socio-economic situation.

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The State Secretariat still assumes that deportation to a state ruled by the radical Islamist Taliban is generally unreasonable. However, deportation is possible for non-vulnerable men if there are “favourable factors”.

According to the SEM, this means that a rejected asylum seeker is living in Switzerland without family, is healthy and of legal age. In addition, there must be a stable and viable network of relationships in Afghanistan on which a returned asylum seeker can rely for social and professional reintegration.

Women, families, minors and people with health problems are not affected by repatriations, as the SEM goes on to say. If they are not granted asylum or if no other Dublin state is responsible for their asylum procedure, Switzerland generally accepts them on a temporary basis.

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