Author
Conditions in federal reception centres
In the federal asylum centres, asylum seekers are usually housed in single-sex dorms, while families are accommodated together. Places to rest or isolate are mostly inexistent. Rooms contain at a minimum two or three beds (such rooms are usually reserved for couples and families) and up to several dozens of beds each, equipped with bunk beds. Asylum seekers are responsible for cleaning their rooms. In its 2021 report, the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture (NCPT) considered the level of cleaning satisfactory. Asylum seekers share common showers and toilet facilities, which are poorly equipped in terms of privacy.[1] In some cases, men and women share the same showers that they access during different times. The same happens with male and female unaccompanied minors, for whom the NCPT recommends providing at least specific time slots for the use of showers. In October 2021, a report with recommendations for the protection of asylum-seeking women and girls was mandated and published in the aftermath of a political postulate.[2]
The law stipulates that the special needs of children, families and other vulnerable persons are taken into account as far as possible in the allocation of beds,[3] but this provision is very general. In 2023, children in school age were generally able to attend school either within the federal centres or in regular schools, however due to the emergency situation, the time or frequency of schooling was sometimes reduced.[4] In addition, few leisure activities exist for children, especially under and above school age. The general tension that exists within the centres, due to the high psychological pressure asylum seekers are living under, the coexistence of persons with very different backgrounds, or even alcohol or drug issues that may occur in the centres, can make the situation very difficult for children, single women or other vulnerable persons.[5]
Asylum seekers are subject to body-search by security personnel every time they come back after going out of the centres. This applies even to children coming back from school, who are systematically searched in some centres, according to a NCPT report.[6] According to the NCPT, children and adults should be body-searched only in case of suspicion.[7] Security personnel is also authorised to seize certain goods when asylum seekers enter or go out of the centre.[8] The NCPT strongly criticises the practice of confiscating food items and non-alcoholic drinks, highlighting that it is unjustified and does not rely on any legal basis.[9]
In its report published in April 2023,[10] the NCPT drew its conclusions on the visits carried out between 2021 and 2022 in 17 federal asylum centres.[11] The Commission recognises the challenges posed by the current situation (Ukraine crisis, increasing numbers of asylum seekers, high numbers of unaccompanied minors) and calls for the need, at the political level, to ensure enough resources. Analysing the situation in the centres, it notes that there is considerable potential for improvement in many areas, such as the prevention of violence (particularly sexual violence), the application of security measures (body-searches, use of force, confiscations), the protection of persons suffering from addiction, or persons at risk of suicide or self-harm. The report focuses especially on the situation on unaccompanied minors, highlighting severe shortcomings in their support and declaring itself highly worried about the situation.[12] The observations concerning minors and other vulnerable groups are discussed below.
In December 2023, the NCPT has published four new reports on individual visits carried out in six temporary centres (see below section on “Accommodation crisis in 2022 and 2023”).
In November 2023, UNHCR has published a report with recommendations for federal asylum centres. In the report, based on 12 visits conducted in federal asylum centres between 2021 and 2022, UNHCR identifies several areas of improvement such as the identification and consideration of special needs of vulnerable persons, the prevention of violence, health care, education and the participation of residents and civil society.[13]
Asylum seekers are required to participate in domestic work on request of the staff. Household tasks are shared between all asylum seekers according to a work breakdown schedule. Generally, maintenance is provided by third parties, namely for cleaning tasks (especially for toilets and showers), the cooking as well as security tasks.[14] Asylum seekers may voluntarily help to serve meals or help in the kitchen. They are not allowed to cook their own food in the federal centres (with a few exceptions regarding centres without processing facilities), but specific diets shall be respected according to internal regulation.[15]
There is a chaplaincy service in every federal centre. Protestant and catholic chaplains spiritually accompany asylum seekers. They often play an important social role, as they provide an open ear to asylum seekers’ worries, and they sometimes call attention to problems in the centres. Between July 2016 and December 2018, a pilot project with Muslim chaplains was set up in the test centre in Zurich,[16] which was evaluated as very positive.[17] In January 2021, another pilot project started with Muslim chaplains in the federal asylum centres, after its prolongation[18] in January 2022. Due to the positive effects shown in the evaluation study,[19] the SEM is definitively introducing Muslim chaplaincy in the Federal Asylum Centres. In order to ensure the long-term financing of this service, an amendment to the Asylum Act is required.[20]
Occupational programmes are proposed to asylum seekers from 16 years of age on, in order to give a structure to the day and thus facilitate cohabitation.[21] The occupational programmes must respond to a local or regional general interest of the town or municipality. They must not compete with the private sector. They include work in protection of nature and the environment or for social and charitable institutions. Examples are cutting trees or hedges, fixing rural pathways, cleaning public spaces. There is no right to participate in occupational programmes. In case of shortage of places in the occupational programmes, places are distributed according to the principle of rotation of the participants. An incentive allowance may be paid to the asylum seeker. This amount is very low and can therefore not be compared to a salary for a regular job. Thus, remuneration is limited to CHF 5 per hour, a maximum of CHF 30 per working day and a maximum of CHF 400 per month.[22] Persons staying in a special centre for uncooperative asylum seekers receive the incentive allowance in the form of non-cash benefits.
Use of physical force and violence episodes in the federal asylum centres
During 2020, there was a number of cases in which violence escalated in the federal asylum centres. The media reported excessive use of physical force by security personnel.[23] According to the information received by the NCPT, the security personnel intervened several times with physical coercion (fixation on the ground), pepper gel and the use of the “reflection room” (see above). Repeatedly, bruises and hematomas resulted from the interventions. Several criminal proceedings were initiated against security staff, with allegations of disproportionate or arbitrary violence and abuse of authority.[24] As noted above, the security staff is contracted from private companies.
In the Commission’s assessment, there was considerable potential for improvement in the handling of conflicts, the prevention of violence and allegations of violence, namely through the introduction of a low-threshold and systematic complaint management system. The NCPT also recommended that security companies recruit experienced and competent personnel and improve their training, reinforce the role of assistance staff and introduce consultation hours for persons with addictions (on the basis of a best practice tested in Kreuzlingen). One positive measure that was already taken is that security agents wear an identification number on their uniform.
On 5 May 2021, the SEM communicated that it had mandated the former federal judge Niklaus Oberholzer with an independent investigation on such episodes of violence.[25] Parallel to this, the SEM had suspended 14 security agents working in the federal asylum centres according to the media.[26] The report was published in November 2021. It concluded that undue coercion was used in individual cases in which criminal investigations had also been initiated. The accusation of systemic disregard for the rights of asylum seekers and of torture, however, was considered false and misleading. The report included recommendations: it urged SEM to review the education and training of security staff and the filling of key security positions by SEM personnel and not to delegate the crucial security tasks fully to a private security firm. It also recommended that SEM defines more precise rules on the application of disciplinary measures and the use of ‘reflection rooms’.
In order to address these recommendations and implement them where possible, SEM has started a new project called “Prévention et Sécurité” (PreSec). Although the project has been delayed due to the management of arrivals from Ukraine, several new provisions are currently discussed and partly already implemented. In 2021, the SEM finalised a violence prevention concept for all federal asylum centres.[27] On this basis, according to information provided by SEM, each centre has developed specific measures that are meant to prevent violence outbreaks. However, according to the NCPT, an overall awareness of violence prevention was not yet evident among the staff of most of the centres visited, including SEM managers and the staff of security companies.[28] Furthermore, standard procedures on how to handle reports of alleged illicit or disproportionate violence by staff members as well as reports or suspected cases of sexual violence are still missing.[29]
On 1 November 2022, the SEM has launched a pilot project creating two reporting offices (Meldestelle) in the federal asylum centres of Basel and Zurich (project phase: 18 months). The non-profit organisation SAH (Schweizerisches Arbeiterhilfswerk) has been mandated to manage those reporting offices. Asylum seekers residing in these two centres as well as security and assistance employees (but not employees of SEM nor legal representatives or volunteers) can address those offices with their complaints.[30] The office shall provide counselling to the reporting person and transmit the complaints – only if wished, and in anonymised form – to the SEM with their recommendations, that the SEM can decide to follow or not. Although the office is placed outside the centre, the office is subordinate to the SEM and has no power to order any measures or proceed to investigations in alleged cases of violence. As such, it is not an independent complaint mechanism such as recommended by the NCPT, the Swiss Refugee Council and Amnesty International, among others. However, it is a first step in that direction and it will allow to register the complaints and better identify future needs thanks to the final evaluation.
At its meeting on 25 January 2023, the Federal Council communicated its will to create transparent and comprehensive regulations for operating and guaranteeing the safety of asylum seekers and staff in federal asylum centres. Therefore, it opened the consultation process on an amendment to the Asylum Act.[31] In doing so, it relied in particular on the recommendations of former federal judge Niklaus Oberholzer, who had investigated violence episodes in the centres and highlighted several gaps in the legal bases, in particular concerning the delegation of coercive measures to private agencies, the use of physical force, of security rooms and of disciplinary measures.[32] The amended law should enter in force approximately by 2025.
As part of the PreSec project, the SEM has appointed seven specialised officers responsible for violence prevention and personal security (one in each asylum region and one at central level) who have started their function on 1st of January 2024. They are supposed to provide regular quality controls and continuous on-the-job training of staff hired by the security companies.
The SEM is also examining the possibility to launch a pilot project on “more open centres with fewer security staff and more supervision”.[33]
Accommodation crisis in 2022 and 2023[34]
As anticipated above, during the second half of 2022 the Swiss reception system has been significantly overwhelmed, with numbers of incoming asylum-seekers exceeding the yearly and monthly projections of the SEM. The war in Ukraine may also have played a part, even though it should be stressed that Ukrainians go through a completely different procedure than the other asylum-seekers. This situation shows that, as soon as the fluctuations go outside the norm, the system is no longer able to cope with the numbers.
The Federal Administration has tried to solve the situation with temporary measures, mainly relying on the availability of alternative accommodations within the different cantons (in some cases also underground), and reaching out to the Army for additional accommodation structures (military barracks and gyms).
While commendable on the one hand because some kind of shelter was provided to everyone, these efforts are far from representing an optimal solution on the other, especially for those, among the asylum seekers, who are the most vulnerable. Some of these temporary centres are also used for so-called SUMA, i.e. ‘self-reliant’ unaccompanied minors ages 16 or 17. Vulnerable asylum seekers are not supposed to be housed there, but this might happen when vulnerabilities could not be identified or in exceptional cases (for example, a pregnant woman was accommodated in the underground shelter of Steckborn at the time of the NCPT visit).[35]
In December 2023, the NCPT has published four new reports on individual visits carried out in six temporary centres. These concern the centres of Aesch, Basel Bonergasse, Basel Schäferweg, Steckborn, Provence/Rochats, and Chiasso Via Motta 7 – 11. The reports confirm the Swiss Refugee Council’s concerns about temporary centres, especially civil protection shelters. First of all, the material conditions are insufficient: spaces are narrow, there is no daylight, insufficient ventilation and no clear separation between dormitories, the dining room and communal areas. The access to toilets for women is not safe as they have to cross the men’s dormitory to go to the toilet at night. Second, the Commission found that responsibilities were not always clear, staff were not sufficiently trained and were not always familiar with the internal guidelines. Despite the increased risk of conflict and violence in these conditions, violence prevention measures were often not in place or not sufficiently known by staff. Alleged episodes of violence were not sufficiently documented or reported to the SEM by security staff. The reports also confirm that conditions in these temporary centres (Aesch and Rochats) are not at all suitable for children. Two of these centres accommodate 16- and 17-year-old unaccompanied minors, but at the time of the CNPT’s visit, there were no specialised staff (social educators). Families were also accommodated in the Steckborn underground civil protection shelter and in the Via Motta 7-11 centre in Chiasso, which the CNPT found to be in appalling conditions, with no outdoor space or place for children to play.[36]
Conditions in cantonal-level facilities
As explained under the section on Types of Accommodation, reception conditions differ largely from one canton to another. The Swiss Refugee Council does not follow the practice in each of the 26 cantons and can therefore only provide general information.
Most asylum seekers stay in collective centres, at least at first arrival in the canton. Generally speaking, asylum seekers benefit from less restrictive measures in the cantonal centres compared to the federal centres, as they usually can go out at their convenience, or cook for themselves for instance. Also they might have access to limited possibilities of daily structure like occupation programmes or language courses. Asylum seekers are however frequently confronted with the remoteness of reception centres, which impedes them to meet with family members, acquaintances or even consult a legal representative if they do not have financial resources. The capacity of the centres themselves is widely varying and so are the living conditions. Some general problems which can be observed in many places are the cleanliness of the centres, the missing privacy in dormitories and the noise which may prevent people from concentrating on education programmes.
Individual housing and private accommodation with host families provide more comfortable housing conditions. Cantonal authorities strive to house families in individual accommodations, even though this is not always possible. Additionally, the people are usually not allowed to choose their place of living and apartment. The authorities provide them apartments which are rented on the general housing market. This can be a reason for the apartments not to be in best shape, since the financing is usually limited by cantonal or communal regulations of social contributions for asylum seekers, which is supposed to be lower than those for Swiss people (exception: people with refugee status). Single men and women often have to share flats with other asylum seekers. They usually cannot choose who they want to live with as long as they are not financially independent and can find their own apartment.
[1] NCPT, Report on federal asylum centres 2019-2020, available in German at: https://bit.ly/3cQJj7k, 27.
[2] UNHCR and the Swiss Refugee Council provided a summary of such recommendations: Anne-Laurence Graf, Eine Zusammenfassung der Empfehlungen zum Schutz von asylsuchenden Frauen und Mädchen im Anschluss an das Postulat Feri, October 2021, available in German (and French) at: https://bit.ly/3GMF8pd.
[3] Article 4(1) Ordinance of the FDJP on the management of federal reception centres in the field of asylum.
[4] UNHCR, UNHCR-Empfehlungen zur Unterbringung von Asylsuchenden in den Bundesasylzentren (BAZ), November 2023, available in German at https://tinyurl.com/9mfa4tj8 p. 25.
[5] Alcohol and drugs are strictly prohibited within the centres under Article 4(2) Ordinance of the FDJP on the management of federal reception centres in the field of asylum. However, this does not prevent some breaches of the regulation from happening in practice.
[6] NCPT, Report on federal asylum centres 2021-2022, available in German at https://bit.ly/42pPPZh, 61 (ch. 168). This constitutes a worsening of practice since 2020. In fact, according to the NCPT report on federal asylum centres 2019-2020, body-searching of children had been limited to cases of suspicion (the report is available in German at: https://bit.ly/3cQJj7k, 20).
[7] NCPT, Report on federal asylum centres 2021-2022, available in German at: https://bit.ly/42pPPZh, 62.
[8] According to Article 4 of the Ordinance of the FDJP, security personal is allowed to seize travel and identity documents, dangerous objects, assets, electronic devices that may disturb the peace, alcohol, drugs and food. Prohibited weapons and drugs are given to the police immediately.
[9] NCPT, Report on federal asylum centres 2021-2022, available in German at https://bit.ly/42pPPZh, 63.
[10] NCPT, Report on federal asylum centres 2021-2022, available in German at https://bit.ly/42pPPZh.
[11] Among these were also 6 centres opened by SEM as “temporary centres”: Allschwil, Balerna, Brugg, Glaubenberg, Reinach, Sulgen. The other centres visited were Giffers, Vallorbe, Basel, Altstätten, Boudry, Embrach, Les Verrières, Bern, Zürich and Flumenthal.
[12] NCPT, press release, 24 April 2023, Requérants d’asile mineurs non accompagnés : la CNPT est préoccupée par l’encadrement insuffisant dans les centres fédéraux, available at : https://bit.ly/3Lz4pGV.
[13] UNHCR, UNHCR-Empfehlungen zur Unterbringung von Asylsuchenden in den Bundesasylzentren (BAZ), November 2023, available in German at https://tinyurl.com/9mfa4tj8, p. 25.
[14] The SEM delegates the task of managing the operation of reception and processing centres to third parties under Article 24b (1) AsylA. Thus, the ORS Service AG (asylum regions Western Switzerland, French speaking Switzerland and Berne) and AOZ Asyl Organisation Zürich (asylum regions Eastern Switzerland, Ticino and Central Switzerland, Zurich) are responsible for running the centres. Security services at the lodges are provided by the companies Securitas AG (asylum regions French speaking Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Zurich, Ticino and Central Switzerland) and Protectas SA (asylum regions Western Switzerland and Zurich). Finally, the mandates of patrols operating in the vicinity of the centres have been awarded to three companies: Securitas AG (asylum regions French speaking Switzerland, Zurich) Protectas SA (asylum regions Western Switzerland and Berne) and Verkehrsüberwachung Schweiz (asylum regions Eastern Switzerland and Ticino and Central Switzerland).
[15] PLEX, Version 3.0, ch. 7.5, p. 22, available in French at: https://bit.ly/3X10VkV. In 2020, the Swiss Refugee Council has received some complaints from asylum seekers with medical conditions (pregnant woman, man with diabetes) saying that their food needs were not respected.
[16] SEM, Lancement d’un projet pilote d’aumônerie musulmane dans les centres fédéraux pour requérants d’asile, 4 July 2016, available in French (and German and Italian) at: https://bit.ly/34s8gDW.
[17] SEM, Aumônerie musulmane au centre pilote de Zurich: le projet pilote donne de bons résultats, 16 February 2018, available in French (and German and Italian) at: https://bit.ly/2GkVwSm. The evaluation highlighted the relevance of spiritual support to asylum seekers of Muslim faith.
[18] SEM, Le SEM poursuit son service d’aumônerie musulmane dans les centres fédéraux d’asile, press release, 31 January 2022, available in French (and German and Italian) at: https://bit.ly/3QMNnXW.
[19] The evaluation was carried out by the Swiss Centre for Islam and Society of the University of Fribourg https://bit.ly/3XftzyR, the study Muslimische Seelsorge in Bundesasylzentren Evaluation des Pilotprojekts zuhanden des Staatssekretariats für Migration is available in German at: https://bit.ly/3XyYgPA.
[20] SEM, L’aumônerie musulmane est introduite durablement dans les centres fédéraux d’asile, 31 January 2023, press release available in French (and German and Italian) at: https://bit.ly/3E9AwKH.
[21] Article 6a Ordinance of the FDJP.
[22] SEM, Plan d’exploitation Hébergement, Version 4, 1.01.2022, p. 34.
[23] See the Communication of 15 May 2020 of the Swiss Refuge Council on this matter, Violence au centre fédéral pour requérants d’asile de Bâle, available in French (and German) at: https://bit.ly/2Z0xsvl.
[24] NCPT, Report on federal asylum centres 2019-2020, 22-24. See also newspaper article Violence à Chevrilles, Le Courrier, 18 June 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/3pbGQXm.
[25] SEM, Le SEM commande une enquête sur des allégations de violence, press release, 5 May 2021, available in French (and German and Italian) at: https://bit.ly/3tBUm92.
[26] Swissinfo, Switzerland launches probe into suspected asylum centre violence, 5 May 2021, available in English at: https://bit.ly/3xWpjbz.
[27] The concept is available, in German, at https://tinyurl.com/ycyfuwms
[28] NCPT, Report on federal asylum centres 2021-2022, available in German at https://bit.ly/42pPPZh, 38 (ch. 173); 48 (ch. 214). This was also confirmed in some of the 2023 reports on the visits to temporary centres, especially the report on the visit of the NCPT to the temporary federal asylum centres of Bonergasse and Schäferweg in Basel (BS) and Aesch (BL), visited on 2 and 3 May 2023.
[29] NCPT, Report on federal asylum centres 2021-2022, available in German at https://bit.ly/42pPPZh, 48 (ch. 214); 50 (ch. 228).
[30] Le Temps, Le SEM crée un bureau des signalements pour deux centres d’asile, Le Temps, 12 December 2022, available in French at : https://bit.ly/3QpvXkl.
[31] SEM, Sécurité et exploitation des centres fédéraux pour requérants d’asile : le Conseil fédéral met en consultation des modifications de la législation, press release, 25 January 2023, available in French (and German and Italian) at: https://bit.ly/40s5KGa. The Swiss Refugee Council has submitted its opinion on the project of law. It is available, in French, at: https://bit.ly/3LA00n5. See also the press release, available at: https://bit.ly/3HIJfFr.
[32] Following accusations by non-governmental organisations and the media, former federal judge Niklaus Oberholzer was commissioned by SEM to investigate whether violence is being systematically used in federal asylum centres. For more information see https://bit.ly/3PWN1h3.
[33] Information provided by the SEM, 1 May 2023.
[34] See also paragraph 1.1. in this chapter
[35] NCPT report on its visit to the temporary federal asylum centres of Steckborn (TG) on 28 March 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yzby9uuj
[36] NCPT, reports on its visits to the temporary federal asylum centres of Steckborn (TG) on 28 March 2023; Bonergasse, Schäferweg (BS) and Aesch (BL) on 2 and 3 May 2023; Balerna and Chiasso (Via Motta 7-11 und Via Motta 1b) on 18.and 19 September 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yzby9uuj ; and Provence (VD) on 29 March 2023. Available at: https://tinyurl.com/yzby9uuj