The Swiss government will have to create a legal basis for establishing migrant hubs outside Europe where rejected asylum seekers would be sent.
Aa a member of the Schengen area, Switzerland will participate in a series of measures adopted by the member states and the European Parliament, intended to speed up deportation processes of rejected asylum seekers .
The European Parliament and the European Council will still have to give it a final vote in the coming weeks.
If the measure is definitely approved, Switzerland will have to implement this legislation into its national law within two years, a spokesperson for the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) said.
First, however this move would have to be approved by the Parliament and Swiss voters.
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How would this system work?
Right now, the plan is just on paper, as these so-called return centres do not yet physically exist.
According to the SEM spokesperson, their establishment requires finding a country outside Europe which is willing to accept the deportees – one that also respects human rights and international standards.
This, however, may not be an easy task.
In a SEM-commissioned study, four Swiss migration experts analysed various models for conducting asylum procedures and deportations abroad.
They report that “greatest difficulty lies in finding a partner country capable of implementing such a return centre on behalf of Switzerland in a manner consistent with human rights.”
