2015-10-12 Thelocal: Syrian refugees bypass Switzerland for EU states

[Gunnar Hymén]

http://www.thelocal.ch/20150908/syrian-refugees-bypass-switzerland-for-eu-states

Switzerland is not a "preferred destination" of Syrian refugees, says its migration office, with new figures showing just 401 Syrians applied for asylum in the Alpine country in August.

New figures released by the Swiss Migration Office (SEM) show that a total of 3,899 asylum requests were placed last month, just three more than in July and hardly the influx experienced by other European countries.

Of the Swiss total, 1,610 requests came from Eritreans, 461 from Afghans, 401 from Syrians and 180 from Iraqis.

Releasing the figures in a statement on Monday the SEM said: "Switzerland is not a preferred destination country of migrants, which explains why the rise in the number of asylum requests is modest compared to that observed in Europe as a whole."

Speaking to the newspaper Tribune de Genève on Tuesday, Amnesty International asylum coordinator Denise Graf said the lack of Syrian enthusiasm for Switzerland may be due to the modest size of the existing Syrian population in the country.

"The Syrian community is very small in Switzerland compared with the Eritrean community," she said.

"We notice a bigger influx of refugees when the Diaspora is already large."

Latest figures show just over 5,000 Syrian refugees have been given provisional permission to live in Switzerland while a further 2,000 are currently having their asylum applications reviewed.

By contrast some 20,000 Eritreans have been welcomed into Switzerland in recent years, forming the largest such group outside the North African country itself.

Another reason for the relatively low number of Syrian asylum seekers arriving in Switzerland is the alpine nation's stricter asylum policy compared to elsewhere in Europe, added Graf.

"In Sweden, the rate of acceptance of Syrian refugees is 100 percent. In Switzerland it's around 35 percent, the others being given only provisional admission, which isn't satisfactory."

noniin, eli Syyrialaiset sitten läpikulkumatkalla Sveitsissä ja target Ruotsi. me saadaan sitten Ruotsin Irakit rikastuttamaan kulttuuriamme kun Ruotsi alkaa olemaan täynnä.