FECL 07 (July/August 1992):

50 PERCENT LESS ASYLUM REQUESTS IN SWITZERLAND IN THE FIRST 4 MONTHS OF 1992, BUT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS INCREASING

In the first four months of this year the number of asylum applications in Switzerland has dropped to 7854. This is less than half the number registered in the same period in 1991. The Swiss Minister of Justice and Police, Arnold Koller triumphantly talks of a "trend reversal". According to him, people have understood that conditions have become tougher for asylum seekers in the Confederation with an economic recession and relatively high unemployment dissuading many foreigners just seeking work to abuse the asylum procedure and with an accelerated asylum procedure showing first results. Furthermore, the war in the Balkans is obstructing the "Balkan route" previously used by a majority of refugees, thus forcing refugees to head rather for Austria than Switzerland. However, the explanation given by Minister Koller for the miraculous trend reversal is questionable. Refugee fluxes in and to Europe have not decreased. Alone in former Yugoslavia there are an estimated 1,3 million refugees. The Turkish security forces have wound up their campaign against Kurdish resistance, leading to a further exodus of Kurds. Compared with the labour market in neighbouring countries, unemployment in Switzerland continues to be remarkably low. Nonetheless, Germany; Austria and France are confronted with record numbers of asylum seekers. So what is the secret behind the Swiss "success story"?

Since January the federal office for refugees has instructed its reception centers for asylum seeker to simply refuse registration of asylum applications by undocumented asylum seekers. Asylum seekers who lack a valid identity card are kindly requested to come back with valid documents. As not even the names of the undocumented asylum seekers are registered, nobody knows how large the number of asylum seekers in Switzerland who have been denied access to the aslum procedure really is. The government seems to deliberately put up with these refugees remaining in Switzerland illegally - without accommmodation and boarding. If cought by the police, they can be deported immediately.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has commented on the new Swiss practice as follows: "On principle, every asylum request must be registered. If the [Swiss] directive renders impossible registration for the asylum procedure, this would constitute a violation of the Geneva Refugee Convention."

The UNHCR is now preparing a documentation with evidence proving the violation of international law by the new Swiss practice.

The development of illegal immigration into Switzerland is more evidence that the alleged "trend reversal" is due to the new practice of the refugee office rather than to a shrinking number of refugees. Compared with 1991, the number of discovered attempts to cross the Swiss border illegally has doubled and while only 8 smugglers of illegal immigrants were arrested between February and April 1991, 30 were intercepted in the same period of this year.

The introduction of the visa obligation for Yugoslavs in January seems to have had a direct effect on illegal immigration. Refugees from former Yugoslavia have almost no chance to obtain asylum. If their request is rejected they lose definitivelythe right to apply for work in Switzerland as season or guest workers. With the exception of refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina, they risk immediate deportation combined with a prohibition to enter Switzerland for a period of three years. Considering these risks, refugees from Yugoslavia often prefer to stay in Switzerland illegally, with the support of family members or friends already residing in the country. Yugoslav refugees whose asylum request has been rejected often do not comply with deportation orders. According to the federal office of refugees 10'200 asylum requests of Yugoslavs were definitively rejected in the first four months of this year. Only 1'900 left the country of their own, 1'627 were deported by force, while the where-abouts of 6'600 are unknown. Most of them are working as clandestines without any social assistance and thus completely dependent on the goodwill of their employer.

Comment

A similar decrease of asylum applications can be observed in some other European countries, among them Sweden. There are indications that, just as in Switzerland, such decreases are due to practices preventing refugees from registering as asylum seekers (deportation without procedure at the borders, refusal by airlines to carry ill-documented persons, etc.). The victims of such practices in breach with the Geneva Refugee Convention do not appear in statistics.

"Trend reversals" due to such practices should often result in a massive increase of illegal immigration and clandestine labour. The Circular letter is interested in any information on such developments.

N.B.