Several hundred people marching with music and banners filled the streets of Zurich on Saturday in a peaceful demonstration against the Swiss federal reception centres for asylum seekers.

“Asylum is not a crime”, “Human rights instead of asylum” and “No camps anywhere” were among the slogans displayed on banners carried by the marchers. The event was organised without authorisation by the Zurich Platform Against Racist Repression.

The activists wanted to send a signal against what they consider to be “the racist and repressive asylum policy of the Swiss government”.

A pilot centre for the accelerated handling of asylum cases was opened last Monday in Zurich. The centre has space for 300 people and is expected to treat between 1300 and 1400 asylum cases per year.

The test phase is scheduled to end in September 2015.

SOURCE: SWISSINFO.CH