Voting on alterations of the asylum system in Switzerland has come out in favour of greatly increased restrictions. On 24^th September 67.8% of voters backed the new legislation, accepting the arguments by the right-wing Justice Minister Christoph Blocher that changes were needed to fight alleged abuse of the system.

The legislation had come under harsh criticism from UNHCR and other NGOs and church groups in Switzerland, who managed to force a national vote even though both laws had already been passed by the parliament and the government.

One of the main points of concern is that asylum seekers must produce valid identity papers within 48 hours. According to UNHCR this could lead to breaches of the 1951 Refugee Convention; many genuine refugees cannot get identity papers before they flee, or their papers may be stolen or destroyed by those they have been smuggled by. The legislation also means that asylum seekers face cuts to social welfare payments, and that those facing removal can be detained for up to 18 months.

Speaking to the national Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger on 25th September, Cornelia Bührle of JRS Europe expressed great concern: “One worries about the signal which could come from yesterday’s referendum. Since the European Union aims at a common asylum procedure/law in order to prevent ‘asylum shopping’, the tightening of the asylum law in Switzerland threatens to become a model for those forces in Europe, who also would like to adopt a more restrictive line.”

The Swiss Refugee Council have called the measures “unacceptable”. Lukas Niederberger SJ, contact person for JRS in Switzerland, said in a short article written for JRS Germany before the vote: “A particularly poor trait is that new restrictions insinuate that refugees have in general a criminal attitude if they cannot provide valid identity documents issued by a public authority … Those who want to combat ‘abuse’ effectively should take other measures.”

The vote comes soon after UNHCR released statistics showing that the number of asylum applications to the EU have dropped by 14%; last year had had the fewest applications since 1987.

More information can be found on the web pages of the Swiss Refugee Council (External link)