Phatime, an Afghan from Kabul, smiles with satisfaction. She could barely understand what was being explained to her at the immigration office counter in Lucerne, a picturesque city in the Swiss Alps, because she does not understand French, Italian or German, the country’s three official languages. But there she met Karim, a fellow countryman, of the same age, 18, who does know the ins and outs of the administration because he arrived as a refugee when he was a child, so he is helping her out as an interpreter. She is one of more than 12,000 people who have applied for asylum in Switzerland so far in 2024, a year in which the government expects to exceed 30,000 applications, something that already happened in 2023. Such a high figure has not been reached since the refugee crisis of 2015. Switzerland is now exploring express asylum, a procedure to accept or reject requests for protection within 24 hours.
Since 2022, the numbers have risen more than usual due to the mix of arrivals of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion in February of that year – there are currently 66,000 people in this country – and those arriving from countries such as Afghanistan, Turkey and Eritrea, which account for half of the applications. The asylum centres were overwhelmed and the army had to be called in to temporarily give up some barracks.
Faced with this situation, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) launched a controversial plan: to process asylum applications in just 24 hours in cases where those affected were from a country with an acceptance rate of less than 1%, and especially those from citizens from Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Libya, which together account for 20% of all applications, according to the agency.
Supporters of this express procedure argue that it serves to discourage immigration, to prevent overcrowding of centres and to provide shelter to those who really need it. Its champion is Christine Schraner Burgener, who has been in charge of the SEM since 2022. “If we accept everyone who comes just because they want to work or have a better life, we have no space,” she argues during an interview in her bright office in Bern.
Opponents of the measure fear that the procedural rights of those affected will not be safeguarded. One of the organisations questioning it is the Swiss Refugee Council. Its spokesperson, Eliane Engeler, explains that there is a risk that cases will not be investigated thoroughly and incorrect decisions will be made. “This can have serious consequences. Vulnerable people, such as those who are sick or traumatised, risk not being identified under these conditions,” she warns. Schraner Burgener confirms that each case is analysed individually so that no one in need of protection is overlooked. Switzerland has traditionally been a supportive country when it comes to welcoming refugees, but in recent years it has tightened its conditions. In the country of nine million inhabitants, some citizens fear that they will be outnumbered by foreigners, who already make up a quarter of the population. The asylum acceptance rate was 54.4% in 2023, higher than the European average of 40%.
The new flagship measure was launched as a pilot programme in Zurich in November 2023; in April it was expanded to the rest of the country, in six reception and accommodation centres. The government attests to its success with data: in Zurich, applications from citizens from the four North African countries mentioned have decreased by 60%. In the other cantons, they have decreased by 40%.
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Engeler warns that the data must be assessed in light of seasonal fluctuations, as asylum applications from the Maghreb in 2023 and 2024 have shown a similar trend: those from January to April 2023 decreased by 47.5%, and those from the same period in 2024 by 30.2%; that is, less than when there was no express procedure. “To date, there has been no independent evaluation of the effects of the 24-hour procedure,” comments the spokesperson.
One of these centres is Chiasso (in the south, near the border with Italy), where Phatime has been living since arriving in the Alpine country. “It is not overcrowded, I feel fine,” says the teenager, who left her country a year ago because she did not want to remain under the yoke of the Taliban regime. She made the entire journey on foot and alone. “I arrived here two months ago and I am processing my documents,” she says proudly despite her rudimentary knowledge of English. For now she is happy with the treatment she has received, although her application is taking longer. She is currently in the preparatory phase, which in theory lasts about three weeks, but has already taken two months of paperwork and interviews.
For Engeler, the problem is not the numbers, but rather the lack of sufficient accommodation capacity. “The system is not prepared and reaches its limits when the number of applications is high. However, until now everyone has had a roof over their heads,” he admits. In fact, to relieve the pressure on federal asylum facilities, the Federal Council has asked Parliament for 132.9 million Swiss francs (138 million euros) to build accommodation with a capacity of 3,000 people.
This is not the first time that Switzerland has implemented an accelerated procedure. In 2019, a major reform of the asylum system came into force, speeding up the process and organising it in a decentralised manner in federal centres. But even before then, a 48-hour procedure had been in place for those arriving from countries in the former Yugoslavia. And criticism was already mounting. The platform Civil Society in Federal Asylum Centres (SCCFA) recalls that it worked, but it is not known how many people went into hiding or crossed the border illegally into other European countries.
Schraner Burgener says the express procedure meets all the guarantees and provides free, individualised legal assistance. She also insists that the process does not necessarily have to be limited to 24 hours. “If we see that we need more information, we continue. But, in most cases, we reach a conclusion at the end of the day.” She adds that they have only had 14 appeals since last November. Anja Klug, head of the UNHCR Office for Switzerland and Liechtenstein, explains by email that her agency supported the 2019 reform and assures that the new system has proven its effectiveness and meets the criteria for those seeking protection to have access to a fair and effective asylum procedure. “However, by speeding up this procedure even further, there may be a risk of destabilising this balance and that these criteria are no longer met in all cases,” she warns.
Criminalization
The spokesperson for the Swiss Refugee Council believes that measures such as the express procedure also carry the risk of stigmatising North African citizens. The SCCFA platform agrees, assuming that another reason for the implementation is the criminal acts of a small group of asylum seekers from these countries. They refer to the frequent headlines of anti-immigration media outlets that warn in their articles about the increasing criminal activity of North Africans. However, police statistics for 2023 indicate that only 6.6% of people accused of a crime come from the asylum population, although the majority were Algerian citizens. “What we see in the public debate is a narrative that systematically criminalises asylum seekers in general,” laments Engeler.
Phatime has not had to go through the 24-hour procedure because Afghan women enjoy special protection that Switzerland approved last year following the recommendations of the European Asylum Agency, so she, in principle, will have no problems in obtaining refugee status. During her time at the Chiasso centre, she has made friends from her country, especially from Turkey, but she has not met any North Africans. In the two months she has been there, she has not had time to start a conversation with any of them. “They leave very quickly,” she says.
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