Asylum seekers and refugees in Switzerland
Recent stories
Referendum on asylum and foreigners law
The Coalition for a Humanitarian Switzerland, which comprises leftwing parties, churches and charities has collected more than 16,000 signatures against the new asylum and foreigners law (passed in April 2006), thus forcing a referendum on the issue.
8 April 2006 (179 words)
President calls for integration of refugees
On the eve of Refugee Day, Swiss President Joseph Deiss said that more should be done to help refugees integrate.
27 June 2004 (97 words)
AI criticises police brutality
In its 2004 report AI has condemned the police for using excessive force against foreigners and asylum seekers.
27 May 2004 (108 words)
Khaled Abuzarifa deportation death decision
The federal court has now confirmed that the doctor who was present during the taping of the mouth of Khaled Abuzarifa, prior to a deportation attempt from Zurich on 3 March 1999, in which he died, should serve three months prison on probation.
26 February 2004 (92 words)
Glarus: Complaint about police raid
AI and the Swiss human rights group, Augenauf, has complained that a police special unit abused its power when it carried out simultanous raids on Rain transit centre for asylum seekers and the accommodation of undocumented workers in the town of Ennenda and two houses for asylum seekers in the town of Linthal, Canton of Glarus.
5 August 2003 (195 words)
Government refugee office withdraws 'tasteless' asylum game
Following protests from NGOs, the Swiss Federal Office for Refugees has withdrawn a computer game, described as 'tasteless', in which players take on the role of asylum seekers.
14 June 2003 (142 words)
Referendum on asylum rights
Swiss voters narrowly rejected the latest proposal by the People's Party to tighten asylum laws.
31 May 2003 (171 words)
Bern: police officers stand trial for Kurdish refugee death
In October 2002, four Bern police officers were committed for trial in connection with the ill-treatment and death in July 2001 of Cemal Gömeç, a Kurdish refugee.
1 January 2003 (65 words)
'Apartheid scheme' for asylum seekers dropped after legal pressure
The threat of legal proceedings has forced the municipal authorities in Meilen, near Zurich, in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, to withdraw an order barring asylum seekers from some public areas, including schools and sports grounds.
19 December 2002 (307 words)
Khaled Abuzarifa deportation death update
An appeal court has reduced the sentence on a doctor found guilty of the manslaughter of Khaled Abuzarifa, a Palestinian who died in March 1999, during a forced deportation operation via Zurich-Kloten airport.
16 December 2002 (140 words)
Swiss People's Party asylum referendum rejected - narrowly
A proposal by the Swiss People's Party to drastically tighten the country's asylum law was rejected by a tiny majority of less than 3,000 votes when it was put to a referendum on November 24.
25 November 2002 (380 words)
Special asylum policy for west Africans
The government, which is attempting to forge repatriation agreements with several African countries, has announced that it will speed up the processing of asylum requests from west Africans.
11 October 2002 (235 words)
Romania promises repatriation, after Roma exodus
In September, after the Swiss authorities announced that 400 Roma asylum seekers from Romania had arrived in the country over a two week period, the Romanian foreign ministry promised to 'find rapid ways to resolve the crisis by repatriating Romanian citizens'.
26 September 2002 (84 words)
Sans papiers support pastor who sheltered overstayer
Representatives of the sans papiers movement attended court on 23 July to voice their support for Pastor Francisco Gmür, who was being prosecuted for sheltering a mother and her two children who had overstayed their tourist visa.
23 July 2002 (83 words)
Samson Chukwu deportation death: no police officers prosecuted
In March 2002 the Cantanol Court dismissed an appeal lodged by the family of Samson Chukwu against a decision, by the Valais investigating magistrate in September 2001, that no criminal investigation should be opened against the deportation officers involved.
1 July 2002 (109 words)
Bern refuses to educate asylum children
Some communes in the canton of Bern are refusing to educate the children of asylum seekers held in reception centres pending a decision on their asylum application.
1 June 2002 (116 words)
Review into forced deportations concludes
The working group on deportations (Project Passenger 2) which was formed in late 2000 has submitted its final recommendations which were endorsed by the Conference of the Directors of the Cantonal Justice and Police Departments in April 2002.
1 May 2002 (101 words)
Prosecutions in Khaled Abuzarifeh deportation death
Three Bern police officers, and a doctor, were charged with homicide through negligence after a judicial investigation into the deportation death of the Palestinian Khaled Abuzarifeh.
1 October 2001 (328 words)
Further claims of deportation violence
AI has outlined further allegations of violence by deporting officers. These include: physical assault and racist abuse; use of sedatives to subdue deportees; deprivation of food and liquid.
1 October 2001 (76 words)
Suicide in Shaffhausen detention centre
A 20-year-old west African asylum seeker committed suicide by hanging himself from a bed sheet from the window in deportation custody in Schaffhausen.
1 October 2001 (34 words)
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