Fast-track asylum procedure to be extended for North Africans

Asylum-seekers at the federal asylum centre in Chiasso, southern Switzerland KEYSTONE

The Swiss government wants to extend the 24-hour fast-track procedure for asylum-seekers from North African countries to all federal asylum centres.

These countries have a very low recognition rate for asylum applications. A corresponding pilot project has been running in Zurich since autumn 2023.

Since then, the number of asylum-seekers from Maghreb countries has fallen by around 34%. The justice ministry confirmed to the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA an article published by Tamedia newspapers on Saturday. In other federal asylum centres, however, the number has risen by a good 8% in the same period.

+ Why Switzerland is piloting a 24-hour asylum procedure for North Africans

According to the article, the authorities in Zurich noticed that asylum-seekers were staying for short periods at weekends. The people left before their asylum application had been officially registered, as some did not appear to want an asylum procedure at all. For resource reasons, people are not registered at weekends.

“In many cases, it is obviously a matter of having accommodation for the weekend,” the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) is quoted as saying in the newspapers. According to the SEM, three to four people from Maghreb countries have applied for asylum at the federal asylum centre in Zurich during the week in recent months.

Weekend phenomenon

It is noticeable that on some weekends an above-average number of people register at the federal asylum centre in Zurich, for example on weekends with Sunday sales, during carnival or the Street Parade.

“Unfortunately, some of them stand out due to their delinquent behaviour,” the SEM is quoted as saying. This is why Justice Minister Beat Jans now wants to extend the 24-hour procedure for asylum-seekers from Maghreb countries to all federal asylum centres.

These are the six centres with a procedural function in Zurich, Bern, Boudry, Altstätten, Chiasso and Basel. According to the SEM, it is not known where the people will be staying before and after the weekend.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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