Swiss-Italian border situation is ‘under control’, says Swiss justice minister

Only 3% of migrants who are identified at the southern border file an asylum request in Switzerland, says Justice Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider. Most want to “just cross the country”. © Keystone / Ti-press / Gabriele Putzu

Switzerland is strengthening the number of border officers at the southern border with Italy ahead of an anticipated influx of migrants, says Justice Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider.

The situation at the Ticino border “remains under control”, she told the ESH media group and La Liberté newspaper in an interview published on Thursday. “This is far from being a disastrous situation.”.

“We must not be caricatured,” she said. “It is not a question of hordes of customs officers going from the north to the south of the country to patrol the border.” But “a few additional people” have been transferred to relieve staff based in Ticino, she said.

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The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS) announced on Sunday the deployment of additional staff to the Ticino border to deal with the influx of migrants expected in the coming weeks, without specifying the numbers.

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Only 3% of migrants who are identified at the southern border file an asylum request in Switzerland, said the Swiss minister. Most want to “just cross the country”.

The asylum system has ‘limits’

She notes, however, that the asylum system in Europe’s passport-free Schengen area needs to be reformed to be able to respond to crises. “The current situation [on the island of] Lampedusa highlights the limits of the Dublin system,” she said.

A new European migration pact with which Switzerland is associated should allow for a more equitable distribution of the migratory burden, she believes. With a new solidarity mechanism, “we either welcome asylum seekers, or we contribute financially or humanly to the asylum system in place”.

Baume-Schneider is due to participate in a meeting of European Union interior ministers on the asylum crisis in Europe on Thursday in Brussels. She remains optimistic that Switzerland will agree to participate financially or by contributing staff to such a mechanism. “I believe that no one is insensitive when it comes to preventing undignified situations,” she said.

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