Calmy-Rey attacks tough foreigner and asylum laws

Calmy-Rey said Switzerland's reputation was at stake Keystone Archive

The Swiss foreign minister has warned that tougher legislation on foreigners and asylum threatens to undermine Switzerland's reputation abroad.

Speaking in Geneva on Saturday, Micheline Calmy-Rey also defended the country’s “active neutrality” which came under fire last week after the Swiss president criticised a boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

During a wide-ranging speech at the Museum of the Swiss Abroad, Calmy-Rey cautioned that the country’s standing abroad was in danger of being damaged by events back home.

Under the tough new laws, which were approved by parliament and supported by the government last year, rejected asylum seekers are excluded from social welfare payments and those waiting for deportation can be held in detention for a maximum of 18 months.

The new legislation also limits the immigration of non-European and unqualified workers. The migration of family members also becomes harder.

Calmy-Rey’s party, the centre-left Social Democrats, is opposing the introduction of the new laws and helped to force a nationwide vote on the reforms scheduled for September.

Humanitarian image

“Switzerland is seen as a country whose residents enjoy freedoms and rights guaranteed by its laws and by international conventions,” she said. “I cannot conceal my fears regarding recent developments on the laws on foreigners and asylum, and their consequences both domestically and for our credibility and image abroad.”

This was a view shared by Cornelio Sommaruga, former president of the Swiss-run International Committee of the Red Cross, who said the country’s humanitarian image was judged both by achievements abroad and by what went on at home.

The Swiss foreign minister also took a dig at critics on the political right who would prefer the country to take a back seat when it comes to foreign affairs and a foreign minister who simply knew how “to be quiet in the four national languages”.

“In a globalised world like ours, seemingly far-away conflicts can have direct repercussions in Switzerland,” she said. “Poverty, environmental destruction, social injustice, terrorism or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are all potential causes of distress and violence, and they know no boundaries. We can only live in peace and security if peace reigns around us.”

Fight against poverty

Calmy-Rey said the best way to achieve this was to push for the adoption and respect of international standards and to be active in mediation, peace promotion and the fight against poverty.

She stressed that Switzerland was no lightweight on the international stage, possessing what was known as “soft power” thanks to its long-standing democratic and humanitarian values.

She pointed to the country’s active role in United Nations, highlighting Swiss efforts to secure the creation of the Human Rights Council, which is due to sit for the first time in Geneva on June 19. Switzerland is seeking a seat on the new body.

Sergei Ordzhonikidze, director-general of the UN in Geneva, who attended Saturday’s round-table discussions on “The Image of Switzerland in the World”, praised the country’s “leadership role” within the world body.

“Switzerland’s role is growing in its importance,” he said. “Neutrality does not mean the absence of a political position on problems of peace, security, development and human rights.”

swissinfo, Adam Beaumont in Geneva

In brief

Earlier this month a coalition of more than 30 organisations, backed by the Social Democrats and the Green Party, forced a nationwide vote against tough new laws on foreigners and asylum.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) last year voiced “serious concerns” about moves to introduce a more restrictive asylum law. It said some of the measures would make Swiss legislation among the most severe in Europe.

Swiss president Moritz Leuenberger came under fire from Israel and Swiss Jewish groups this week for speaking out against a boycott of Hamas.

He told the Arab news channel, Al-Jazeera, that it would have been more “reasonable” to grant Hamas a probationary period to prove itself.

Key facts

Saturday’s round-table discussions on “The Image of Switzerland in the World” was organised by the Foundation for the History of the Swiss Abroad.
The organisation keeps track of Swiss across the centuries who have made a significant contribution abroad.
Each year the foundation hosts “Penthes Day” at the Château de Penthes, home of the Museum of the Swiss Abroad.