Switzerland is facing renewed demands for mass removals of failed asylum seekers after an internal government analysis found that 80.5% of applicants from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia were accused of at least one criminal offense during or after their asylum proceedings.
The same group, interestingly, has virtually no prospect of being allowed to remain—around 99 percent of their asylum applications are rejected.
The figures, compiled by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration and reported on by Blick, have intensified criticism of an asylum system that opponents say allows large numbers of young foreign men with almost no chance of receiving protection to remain in the country long enough to commit offenses.
The contrast with other asylum seekers is stark. Among applicants from all other countries of origin, 12.3% were recorded as accused in criminal proceedings—a fraction of the rate among Maghreb (North African) nationals.
“Only one fifth of this group of people did not attract criminal attention during their stay in Switzerland,” the SEM said in its internal assessment. Officials say the figures confirm a problem that police and asylum-center employees have confronted for years.
SEM chief spokesman Daniel Bach said young men from North Africa account for a disproportionate share of incidents inside federal asylum centers. “They commit most of the crimes that are attributed to asylum seekers,” he said.
The overwhelming rejection rate has made the figures particularly damaging politically. If roughly 99 percent of these applicants ultimately have no entitlement to Swiss protection, critics argue that the priority should be swift removal rather than prolonged accommodation inside an asylum system financed by working taxpayers.
Hellbound and Down 