Switzerland sends hundreds of incoming migrants who want to travel to other countries to Basel, on the borders with Germany and France. The police in the canton of St. Gallen confirmed the practice to the newspaper “NZZ am Sonntag”: “We formally allow further travel.” Now criticism is coming from Germany. “If these reports are correct, Switzerland will simply wave them on,” said Andrea Lindholz, vice-chairman of the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag.
“National selfishness harms the Schengen area,” the politician told the newspaper. The Swiss TV magazine “Rundschau” showed at the beginning of October that the Swiss Railways SBB is providing migrants arriving from Austria in Buchs in the canton of St. Gallen with their own wagons for the onward journey via Zurich to Basel. For Lindholz, the SBB is therefore promoting illegal entry into Germany. She called on the Swiss authorities to intervene. “Switzerland must fulfill its obligations as a member of the Schengen area and act against illegal migration.”
No legal basis for detaining people
The Swiss Secretariat of State for Migration sees no legal basis for detaining people. And before going through a Dublin procedure, which is intended to determine which country is responsible for conducting an asylum procedure, people have long traveled further. “No Dublin procedure can be carried out for people who are no longer present,” the spokesperson for the Secretariat of State for Migration told the newspaper.
Swiss professor of migration law Sarah Progin-Theuerkauf described the forwarding of the migrants in the “Rundschau” program as “a violation of the law and incompatible with the Dublin Agreement”. Because an asylum procedure must be completed in the country where a refugee has demonstrably entered the country first. Another Swiss professor of migration law, Alberto Achermann, sees things differently: “Dublin only comes into play when someone applies for asylum,” he told the “NZZ am Sonntag”. The migrants who arrive in Buchs usually do not.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
