MIGRATION CRISIS
Swiss are “too restrictive” over Syrian refugees
Switzerland should grant more Syrians full refugee status rather than just temporary residency, a top official from the United Nation’s refugee agency (UNHCR) has declared.
In an interview in Sunday’s NZZ am Sonntag newspaper, Anja Klug, UNHCR’s representative for Switzerland, criticized the fact that most Syrians allowed to stay in Switzerland were only given temporary residency.
“Switzerland is applying a much too restrictive policy towards Syrian asylum-seekers,” Klug declared.
She said only 35% of Syrians are officially given refugee status by the Swiss authorities, while this percentage rises to 70% on average in other European countries.
“The people who are only given temporary residency have to deal with the risk that they might be sent back to Syria from Switzerland at any given time,” she said, adding that this leads to feelings of insecurity for refugees.
These sentiments are exacerbated by the fact that family members are often not allowed to follow them to Switzerland, they have restricted access to the labour market and they cannot leave Swiss territory, she said.
This situation is a “disastrous signal” for the Swiss population, which gives the impression that Syrian asylum-seekers are not at all under threat and do not need protection, she told NZZ.
Swiss welcome
Since the war began four years ago, Switzerland has taken in around 9,000 Syrian refugees. About half this number were able to come to Switzerland thanks to a temporary relaxation of entry conditions.
On Friday, Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga said Switzerland would participate in a European Union programme to relocate refugees fleeing the four-year conflict in Syria, as well as increase its financial contribution to international aid organisations.
In a first step, Switzerland said it would accept 1,500 refugees on condition they are registered as asylum seekers in neighboring Italy or in Greece. The contingent is part of apledge made by Switzerland last March to accept 3,000 people under an international refugee effort.
Sommaruga said the government was also willing to consider up to 5,000 additional refugees over the next two years as long as the Dublin system of handling refugees remained intact.
EU leaders, deeply divided, are due to meet on Wednesday in a fresh attempt to agree on how and where to distribute 160,000 refugees among their countries.
The government has decided to increase its financial contribution by CHF70 million ($73.3 million) to help displaced people in the region and to boost long-term development projects. So far Switzerland has granted CHF198 million in aid to countries affected by the conflict in Syria.
swissinfo.ch with agencies
Categories: Europe, Switzerland, Syria
Switzerland agrees to take 35%, how many have the muhammadan countries taken? Why are the refugees not heading in that direction?
Your compassion for the Muslims is very revealing; but, please do not forget some of these refugees are Christians or may become Christians if Europe treats them well.
All of us will be judged by the Gospel of Matthews in the Hereafter, by our Father in the Heaven:
Additionally, this detailed parable or metaphor illustrates that our works count and the Christian emphasis ‘on Faith alone,’ in Protestantism more than in Catholicism is one more paradox that needs to be replaced with the Islamic teachings of genuine balance between faith and deeds.
Which country is taking more refugees:
http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2015/09/countries/canada/which-countries-are-taking-in-syrian-refugees
Zia, the same respect and compassion you have for the Christians, particularly those you derisively refer to as ‘trinitarians’, are what I mutually have for the muhammadans.
Only ignorance motivates somebody to misconceive that the Protestant Christian does to believe in good deeds. The Holy Bible says that faith without works is dead. In 1 Corinthians 13:1-4 Apostle Paul states that of all things charity is the greatest. But neither charity nor good deeds save. Only grace alone brings salvation.
Bukhari quotes Muhammad as having told his followers that his good deeds will not save him. Grace alone, he said, would give him salvation. Was he wrong? You seem to think so.
The Christian is full of compassion. That is why he is the first to respond to disasters and crises such as the refugee problem facing the muhammadans. Ever wonder why thousands risk their lives to get to Europe, built on Christian principles, instead of making the easy trip to Saudi Arabia with its vast wealth?
Being compassionate should not fool or blind anyone to the realities of life. The Bible says “MY PEOPLE PERISH FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE”. Anyone who forgets history is bound to be consumed by his own made catastrophe.
The refugees should first be the problem of the muhammadan world for they share many things in common. For you to ignore the impervious attitude of the muhammadan world to the plight of these people while expecting the West to accept everyone who comes calling, is not only greed but callousness. Let the muhammadans take in their muhammadan brothers while the Christians take care of their own.
Seeing possible conversion as an incentive to allow in more refugees is, at best, laughable. The founder of the muslim brotherhood and Ali Akbar Valeyati trained in America but have remained some of the most virulent critics of the West. How much conversion have you done despite that you fled Pakistan for the US? Rather, your energy is spent attacking Christianity whose very principle founded America. I fail to see any attempt at conversion. Instead, what is apparent is the increase in the number of home grown terrorists who want the total destruction of the very countries which take them in.
With such flagrant lack of compassion for the refugees by the muhammadans, what is the ‘islamic teaching of the genuine balance between faith and deeds’? Emptiness.
At the link provided by Amtul Q Farhart, it is stated that Israel is the only country sharing boundaries with Syria which has not taken in any refugees. But no European country or the United States shares boundaries with Syria. Why should they be expected to take in the refugees? If these countries can, then there is no excuse for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, all of which are in the same region, not to out do the West .
I cannot recall any muhammadan country that took in the Haiti earthquake disaster victims.
Any country which is helping these refugees deserves praise. In the above discussion it seems as if the refugees are at fault for being a refugee. I wish to point out that there is a war in the Middle Eastern countries including Syria. Various factions who are fighting are all being supported by the Western countries. Refugees are innocent oridnary people who have been displaced due to this war being fought in the Middle East. The war is for territoty, resources and political influence. This is what empires have always done.
I am also amazed that some want to stress the Faith of the refugees. If we want to think in those terms then we should remember that the war in this region is the creation of the West who are pedominantly Christians.
After being in this region for the last twelve years and having full control of the region, I think that the West has created this refugee crisis and they have the responsibility to help these poor people who are fleeing for fear of their lives.
It seems you are not aware of the genesis of the crisis in Syria. When did the West start supporting Assad whose father established a political dynasty and was not too friendly with the West? The son refused to cede power but held on in spite of protests for him to leave. How is that the fault of the West? Iran that has fuelled the crisis is not Christian by any stretch of the imagination.
Yes, these are refugees who may not have brought this upon themselves, but what is wrong with the rich countries in the region accepting them? Spending endless years in the region does not amount to the monopoly of knowledge of the events.
When will people take responsibility for their actions instead of always blaming the West for the death or life of a fly?