The UN refugee
agency has a number of concerns about the planned changes to Switzerland's
asylum laws, but most worrying of
all, the agency believes, is the proposal on identity documents.
Many refugees flee their countries
without papers; sometimes they have been confiscated
by the authorities. Others never had identity cards in the first
place. Some asylum-seekers give their papers to unscrupulous
people-smugglers to help them across borders and never get them
back again. All such cases deserve to have their requests for asylum
heard, the agency says, even if they don't have valid documents.
The Swiss proposal to limit the time allowed to produce identity
papers to 48 hours could, the UN believes, lead to people being
forcibly returned to countries where they have been persecuted.
The refugee agency points out that applications for asylum are
falling all over Europe, including Switzerland, and says
there is no need for governments to focus so
single-mindedly on restricting
the asylum process.
But Switzerland's traditionally generous refugee policy is now
in the hands of the far-right Justice Minister, Christoph Blocher,
who came to office in December on a promise to crack down on illegal
asylum-seekers.
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asylum: protection given to foreigners
who have left their own country for political reasons
flee: run away from, escape from
confiscated: if you confiscate
something from someone, you take it away from them
unscrupulous: dishonest; unscrupulous
people are prepared to act dishonestly and without consideration
for other people in order to get what they want
forcibly returned: forced to go
back
persecuted: treated cruelly and unfairly
falling: here, decreasing
single-mindedly: if you are single-minded,
you have only one aim, and you are determined to achieve it
restricting: if you restrict something,
you put a limit on it
crack down on: use the law to stop
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