Zurich sees drop in asylum seekers from North Africa

In Switzerland, the number of asylum seekers from North Africa has dropped by 42% since last April. Keystone / Michael Buholzer

Since the introduction of the 24-hour procedure in Zurich’s asylum region, there has been a 62% reduction in the number of asylum seekers from North African countries – commonly referred to as the Maghreb – at federal asylum centres.

Nationwide, the number of North African asylum seekers has dropped by 42% since last April, according to the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM).

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

This procedure was launched as a pilot project in Zurich in November 2023. Since April 2024, the SEM has been processing asylum applications from individuals from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya under the 24-hour procedure.

The average time to reach an initial asylum decision has decreased from 52 days to 17 days due to the new procedures. This will significantly ease the pressure on federal asylum structures.

A standard asylum procedure in 24 hours

The 24-hour procedure is a standard asylum process in which the procedural steps are closely timed. Free legal protection is guaranteed at all times.

So far, the SEM has processed over 900 asylum applications through the 24-hour procedure. A total of 37 appeals have been lodged with the Federal Administrative Court against the SEM’s decisions. In 31 cases, the SEM’s decision was upheld by the Federal Administrative Court, while the remaining cases are still pending.

The number of security-related incidents in federal asylum centres has also decreased by 42%, according to the SEM.

Swiss justice minister to consider processing asylum applications in third countries

Justice Minister Beat Jans considers outsourcing asylum applications to third countries “sensible under certain conditions.”

“The rule of law and human rights must be guaranteed,” he said in an interview. With these conditions met, asylum procedures in third countries could be “more effective than if people risk drowning in the Mediterranean,” Jans said in an interview published on Saturday with Schweiz am Wochenende.

To ensure this, Swiss personnel would need to conduct the procedures on-site in collaboration with other countries.

Asylum procedures similar to the UK’s arrangement with Rwanda are not feasible. It’s not enough to “simply send money and refugees and think the problem is solved,” said Jans.

Just in February, Jans had stated that the Swiss government did not wish to outsource asylum procedures to third countries.

Translated from German by DeepL/sp

How we work

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to [e-mail].