Switzerland to apply stringent asylum criteria for Eritreans

A Swiss court in St. Gallen has ruled that illegal migrants from Eritrea will not be guaranteed asylum in Switzerland.

The ruling, handed down on 2 February 2017, declared that the previous policy to granting automatic asylum to illegal Eritrean migrants was “unjustified”.  As a result Switzerland will no longer

Eritrean asylum seekers as refugees solely on the grounds of having fled their country illegally.

After investigating several cases of Eritreans visiting their home country after they had been granted asylum in Switzerland, the court learned that not all Eritreans who left their country illegally are subject to mistreatment upon their return.

The court’s rule cannot be appealed and might definitively shut Switzerland’s open-door policy towards Eritreans.

Eritreans are one of the largest migrant groups from Africa attempting to reach Europe.  More than 25,000 Eritreans applied for asylum in various European countries and a further 15,000 in 2016.