Residents misinformed through forged government letters

The information evening about the planned asylum centre in Giffers was attended by almost 1,000 residents Keystone

In a unique protest against a planned asylum centre in the town of Giffers in canton Fribourg, unknown perpetrators sent “official” letters to residents, informing them that the asylum project would not be realised.

A number of citizens of the town received letters ostensibly sent by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) and signed by Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga. The letters looked genuine, with correct telephone numbers and addresses and a format mimicking the one used by the government.

But a spokesman for the justice department, Philipp Schwander, stated that the letters were forgeries.

“Neither Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga nor the SEM produced such a letter,” he said, and the government is proceeding with the planned centre.

Plans to build a refugee centre in the 1,500-resident community of Giffers met with opposition at a February information event attended by nearly a thousand people, including the town’s mayor, who spoke on behalf of the local authorities.

Giffers is to be the first of several new federal asylum centres following restructuring of the Swiss asylum system. Beginning in 2017, up to 300 asylum seekers would be housed in an institutional building in the community.