Immigration: Swiss Govt to National Council Member: Suspension of Schengen Is Not Feasible
Did immigration issues drive us to Brexit? What is the word on the streets right now?
Dropping out of the Schengen Agreement is not an option for Switzerland, the Federal Council of Switzerland has said in a response to Lorenzo Quadri, a Member of the National Council of Switzerland since 2011, who sits on the Transport and Telecommunication Commission and is a member of the Ticino League Party, a right-wing populist, Eurosceptic, anti-ecological and anti-statist party.
In September, Quadri had deposited a question to the Federal Council, expressing his concerns that after the new Italian government softened its illegal immigration policies, previously introduced by the former Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini known for his criticism on the Schengen Area, the Swiss region of Ticino in the border with Italy would be “flooded by immigrants”.
“If Ticino – and therefore Switzerland – has been able to benefit from fewer asylum applications from economic migrants landed in Italy, this is largely due to the strict policy adopted by Salvini,” Quadri noted.
“Switzerland (Ticino in particular) should expect an increase in the flow of economic migrants arriving from Italy in the future without the possibility of carrying out Dublin postponements, at least not with the ways in which they were up to now possible,” he had further added.
However, in a delayed response, the Federal Council has underlined this week that Switzerland remains committed to maintaining good bilateral relations in the migration sector, including with the new Italian government.
The Federal Council responded to Quadri, by presenting statistics regarding immigration to Switzerland, which contradict his allegations. According to these statistics the number of landings registered in 2018 was about 21,000 people, which means it decreased by about 80% compared to 2017, when there were about 103,000 people. However, statistics show that this year until the end of September, almost 7000 people entered, which is about two thirds less than in 2018 when Salvini was in power.
While the Federal Council claims it remains aware that the Dublin regulation weights heavier on the countries at the external Schengen borders, it insists that the countries should instead work in the favor of a long-term structural reform that makes the Dublin system more balanced and resistant to crises.
“[Suspending the agreement] would not contribute to making the Swiss asylum system more efficient. Without it, Switzerland would be responsible for the physical examination of all asylum applications presented in our country,” the government says adding that the suspension of the Schengen agreement – and therefore also of the Dublin agreement – is not a viable route as it would not contribute to making the Swiss asylum system more efficient.
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