Swiss Parliament Backs Plan To Deport Rejected Eritrean Refugees

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Both chambers of parliament have now approved an idea to conclude a so-called transit agreement with a third country – as yet undefined – for the return of rejected Eritrean asylum seekers.

This content was published on June 11, 2024 - 09:34 3 minutes

• Français fr Le Parlement veut renvoyer des Erythréens vers un pays tiers Original Read more: Le Parlement veut renvoyer des Erythréens vers un pays tier

At present, rejected Eritrean asylum seekers cannot be forced to return to their country, since Eritrean authorities categorically refuse such repatriation of their nationals. This practice has been going on for many years and affects all European countries.

This situation is unacceptable and undermines the credibility of the Swiss asylum system, said Christian Wasserfallen from the centre-right Radical Liberal Party on Monday. He said everything possible must be done to ensure that the situation, if not completely unblocked, can at least move in the right direction.

+ More on the Swiss debate about deporting Eritrean refugees

The motion by Wasserfallen's colleague Petra Gössi calls for Switzerland to conclude a transit agreement with a third country to temporarily send rejected Eritrean asylum seekers there. The government is thus tasked with identifying such a third country that would be willing to conclude such a transit agreement, as Switzerland tried to do with Senegal in 2002.

This agreement was to authorise the transit of asylum seekers for a period of three days. This time was to be used to identify them and obtain an identity document from the consular representation of their country of origin in Senegal.

+ Why some Eritreans come to blows in Switzerland

The left and some centrists in parliament opposed the motion without success on Monday. They criticised the proposal as ineffective and likely very costly.

The government put forward the same argument. In the case of a transit agreement, it is likely that the Eritrean representation in the third country would refuse the request for an identity document, warned Justice Minister Beat Jans. The Eritrean applicants would therefore have to be readmitted once again to Switzerland.

Adapted from French by DeepL/dos

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo 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 , and if you have feedback on this news story please write to ... .

External Content Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Almost finished... We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you. Daily news

Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox.

Daily

Email

The SBC Privacy Policy provides additional information on how your data is processed.

I consent to the use of my data for the SWI swissinfo newsletter.

Ne More Swiss president says insults on Russian TV 'out of order'

This content was published on Jun 11, 2024 Viola Amherd said that recent defamatory statements against her on Russian television were so out of line that they were“clearly a case of disinformation”.

Read more: Swiss president says insults on Russian TV 'out of order More One in five checks reveals violations of Swiss labour regulations

This content was published on Jun 10, 2024 Around one in five checks carried out on workers employed in Switzerland revealed violations of Swiss wage and working conditions.

Read more: One in five checks reveals violations of Swiss labour regulation More Storms raise flood alert level on Lake Constance

This content was published on Jun 10, 2024 In Untersee, at the western part of Lake Constance, the water level on Monday morning was almost at the highest danger level.

Read more: Storms raise flood alert level on Lake Constanc More Federal Office of Culture presents the 2024 Swiss Art and Design Awards

This content was published on Jun 10, 2024 The 28 winners of the 2024 Swiss Art and Design Awards will each receive CHF25,000.

Read more: Federal Office of Culture presents the 2024 Swiss Art and Design Award More Switzerland says 90 countries and organisations will attend Ukraine peace summit

This content was published on Jun 10, 2024 The Swiss-hosted conference is intended to lay the foundations for sustainable peace talks, in which Russia will also take part at a later date.

Read more: Switzerland says 90 countries and organisations will attend Ukraine peace summi More Geneva votes to keep assisted suicide in care homes and hospitals

This content was published on Jun 10, 2024 Geneva will continue to guarantee the option of assisted suicide in nursing homes and care institutions.

Read more: Geneva votes to keep assisted suicide in care homes and hospital More Art Basel opens amid volatile economic situation

This content was published on Jun 10, 2024 The world's most important art fair begins on Monday with its prelude for VIP guests.

Read more: Art Basel opens amid volatile economic situatio More Ticino approves lower taxes for the wealthy

This content was published on Jun 9, 2024 High incomes in the Swiss canton of Ticino will in future benefit from tax relief.

Read more: Ticino approves lower taxes for the wealth More Fribourg voters say yes please to one hour's free parking

This content was published on Jun 9, 2024 Voters in the Swiss city of Fribourg have approved a municipal initiative making the first hour of parking free.

Read more: Fribourg voters say yes please to one hour's free parkin More Climate article added to Aargau constitution

This content was published on Jun 9, 2024 Voters in the Swiss canton of Aargau have approved an amendment writing a climate article into its constitution.

Read more: Climate article added to Aargau constitutio

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at ... .

MENAFN11062024000210011054ID1108319014