legal and social conditions for asylum seekers and refugees in ...

– he/she has stayed illegally in Switzerland for a longer period of time and cannot substantiate a
prima facie persecution;
– he/she originates from a country deemed safe by the Federal Council.
In principle, according to Section 37 of the Asylum Law, the decision of “not to enter into the
matter” should be taken within 20 working days, but this time limit is not always met. The reasons
behind the decision have to be indicated.
Manifestly unfounded applications
In addition, Section 40 of the Asylum Law provides for the possibility of rejecting, within the same
20-day period and without further investigation, an asylum application, which, following interview,
indicates that the applicant cannot prove or make credible his/her grounds for claiming refugee
status, and when there are no obstacles to his/her removal from Switzerland. This is not a distinct
procedure as such, but rather an accelerated processing of applications deemed manifestly
unfounded. Nevertheless, decisions made under Section 40 are only briefly reasoned.
Negative decisions under the procedure of “not to enter into the matter” and under Section 40
may be appealed to the Asylum Appeal Commission within 30 days. Appeals have no automatic
suspensive effect, and the applicant’s removal can take place within 24 hours of notification of the
decision. However, the Appeal Board may suspend the removal within 48 hours of submission of
the appeal. Appellants have, in principle, access to the state-funded free legal aid system, but this
is seldom granted. In practice, legal counselling is provided by NGOs in almost every canton
(region).
Normal determination procedure
Following the preliminary interview at the Federal Registration Centre, asylum seekers are
allocated to a particular canton by the Federal Office for Refugees. The cantons’ and the asylum
seekers’ interests are both taken into account. FOR’s decisions on allocation can only be
contested for reasons of family unity.
Once allocated to a canton, asylum seekers are interviewed within 20 days. Interviews are
conducted by officers of the aliens police who are specially trained in asylum matters. During this
interview, the applicant is required to explain his/her reasons for seeking asylum in Switzerland
as clearly and completely as possible and he/she is invited to produce any relevant documents to
support such statements. An interpreter is always made available when necessary.
According to Section 30 of the Asylum Law, a representative of a relief organisation must attend
the interview conducted by the canton’s authorities. A certain number of organisations appointed
by the Federal Council are authorised to send representatives to the interviews. The canton’s
authorities communicate the date of the interview to the organisations beforehand and the latter
are responsible for co-ordinating their presence at the interviews. The costs inccurred are paid by
the state.
The representative of a certified aid organisation attends the interview as an observer and his/her
function is to check the correctness of the procedure. He/she may not intervene in order to help
the asylum seeker, but he/she can require that certain questions be asked in order to clarify the
facts, or can suggest that further investigations be conducted. The representative may also raise
objections to the interview records. Any such objections must be noted in the records.
The file and the interview records are then forwarded to the FOR for examination and decision.
The Asylum Law provides the opportunity for the cantonal authorities to submit a draft decision to
the FOR together with the file. In practice, this is only done in the two cantons of Geneva and
Neuchâtel. The FOR must decide in each individual case whether asylum is to be granted or
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