On Tuesday, the relevant committee of the Council of States unanimously passed a motion by Esther Friedli calling for a migration agreement.
Eritrean refugees demonstrate in Bern in 2018 for a more humane refugee policy.
On Tuesday, the State Policy Committee of the Council of States (SPK-S) unanimously passed a motion by St. Gallen SVP Council of States member Esther Friedli. Friedli stated that Switzerland must again negotiate a migration agreement with Eritrea.
The National Council had previously approved the motion with an addition. The addition requires that the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) send a representative to the region to initiate negotiations. This demand is now being implemented, as the SEM confirmed. An Immigration Liaison Officer (ILO) will soon be sent to the Kenyan capital Nairobi. He will travel to Eritrea regularly to negotiate the readmission of Eritrean nationals.
In June, the State Secretary for Migration, Christine Schraner Burgener, said in an interview with the “Sonntags-Blick” that Switzerland was ready to negotiate an agreement with Eritrea. “We are staying on it and are in constant talks,” she assured. There are currently around 260 rejected Eritrean asylum seekers in Switzerland who must return. The liaison officer will be stationed in Nairobi, but should be on site in Eritrea on a regular basis.
There are currently over 40,000 Eritreans living in Switzerland with various residence permits. Since they cause more problems with social and professional integration than other migrants, bourgeois politicians have long been demanding that Switzerland negotiate with Eritrea about taking back its citizens. Today, Eritreans cannot be forcibly repatriated, as Eritrea does not accept repatriations.
Back in March, the Council of States adopted a motion by Schwyz FDP Councilor Petra Gössi, who demands that Eritreans who cannot be returned to their homeland should leave Switzerland for a third country. The decision was made by 26 votes to 16, with one abstention.
Gössi’s motion calls on the Federal Council to conclude a transit agreement with a suitable third country. The model is said to be an agreement that the then Minister of Justice Ruth Metzler signed with Senegal in 2003. However, it never came into force after that.
The Federal Council, however, rejected Gössi’s motion. Cooperation with Eritrea has improved and the number of Eritreans required to leave the country has decreased somewhat, said Justice Minister Beat Jans. There are also fewer asylum applications from Eritrea.
He admitted, however, that the Swiss government also considered “the situation unsatisfactory.” Eritrea was not prepared to cooperate. A transit agreement such as the one with Senegal would not solve the problem, as it only allowed transit for a maximum of 72 hours. Many of those affected therefore returned to Switzerland.
The Justice Minister also defended himself against the accusation that the Federal Council was not showing enough commitment. Switzerland has concluded return cooperation agreements with 66 countries and is on the right track. However, a transit agreement would be ineffective because Eritrea would not accept its citizens from a third country either.
Nevertheless, in June the National Council also voted 120 to 75 in favor of the Gössi motion. This went against the will of the Left, who described the FDP’s proposal as scandalous. “Which country should enter into such a transit agreement?” asked the Bernese EVP politician Marc Jost. And anyway: without a readmission agreement with Eritrea, a transit agreement makes no sense. The motion does not solve any problems, but causes costs. Refugee aid also campaigned for a no: The motion’s proposal is expensive, ineffective and disproportionate given that fewer than 280 people are required to leave the country.
But the resistance was unsuccessful. The National Council also approved a motion by the liberal Council of States member Andrea Caroni. The Ausserrhoden resident called for tougher action against Eritreans who publicly or violently support their regime in Switzerland. In future, it must be easier to withdraw refugee status from such people or to expel them from the country, he said. The large chamber finally accepted the motion by 131 votes to 63, against the will of the Minister of Justice.
