Return - IOM Publications - International Organization for Migration

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SWITZERLAND
more, return and reintegration assistance can be obtained only once. If a returnee re-enters Switzerland,
there are “pay-back provisions” in place, i.e. the financial return assistance granted will
have to be paid back to the Swiss authorities.
Detention Procedures
Individuals who claim asylum at the airport may be detained at airport transit zones for a maximum
of 15 days, until the Federal Office for Refugees has made a decision about their admittance.
The airport procedure is a preliminary one, which precedes the actual asylum procedure,
i.e. at the airport the FOR decides over the admittance to the asylum procedure. This initial
decision must be made within 15 days of submission of the application. Appeals on negative
decisions may be lodged with the Swiss Asylum Appeal Commission, which must take its decision
within 48 hours. Asylum seekers must be granted entry to the asylum procedure if a decision
has not been taken after 15 days. When the asylum seeker is deemed unanimously as suffering
from persecution in the country of origin by both UNHCR and the Swiss FOR, she/he cannot be
sent back to her/his country of origin.
To ensure implementation of an expulsion order a person may be detained up to a maximum
period of nine months. Judicial review is mandatory after a certain time of detention (varies
from canton to canton), and also in order to secure an extension. Detentions are subject to a
monthly review.
Persons liable to be detained may be held at a special detention centre in Basel, at Zurich airport
or in a normal prison but separated from ordinary felons. The average detention period is
23 days, although in practice, detention is rarely used with respect to rejected asylum seekers.
The primary reason for detention is the suspicion that the individual might abscond, following
issuance of a removal decision. Indeed there have been frequent reports of abscondance in
recent years, and it is estimated that approximately 60 per cent of rejected asylum seekers
abscond after receiving a negative decision.
TABLE 1
INCIDENCE OF ABSCONDANCE:
2000-2003
Year Number of Reported Absconders
2000 13,155
2001 8,725
2002 9,186
2003 10,459
Source: Federal Office for Refugees.
According to Article 13(a) of the Aliens Law, the cantonal police may also detain asylum seekers,
who do not endue a stay and residence authorization for the following reasons:
If they pose a threat to public order or national security;
If their entry into Switzerland contravenes a previously issued entry ban, and they cannot be
removed immediately;