Safe country of origin

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Swiss Refugee Council Visit Website

The Federal Council is responsible for designating states in which, on the basis of its findings, there is protection against persecution as safe countries of origin.^[1] In such a case, SEM usually issues a decision of inadmissibility without further investigations. The time limit for an appeal in these cases is 5 working days.^[2] The common list of safe countries of origin and safe third countries is published in the Annex 2 of Asylum Ordinance 1 on procedural aspects (AO1),^[3] and was last updated in October 2019. It includes:

• EU and EEA Member States;
• Albania;
• Benin;
• Bosnia-Herzegovina;
• Burkina Faso;
• Georgia;
• Ghana;
• India;
• Kosovo;
• North Macedonia;
• Moldova, excluding Transistria;
• Mongolia;
• Montenegro;
• Senegal; and
• Serbia.