Human rights campaigners have reacted angrily to new laws in Switzerland, which seek to restrict the free movement of asylum seekers.
The new laws give local authorities the right to ban asylum seekers from frequenting certain public places, such as libraries and swimming pools.
On 7 August, the head of Switzerland’s Immigration Ministry, Mario Gattiker, told local media that the municipality of Bremgarten now had the ability to issue “the rules of the game” with regard to the movement of those seeking asylum.
Gattiker, whose federal ministry fully supports the rules, said “we need rules to ensure a peaceful and orderly coexistence of residents and asylum seekers.”
Migrants in Bremgarten, where a new refugee centre opened earlier this month, will be restricted from “loitering” near playgrounds, as well as being banned from “sensitive areas” such as swimming pools and playing fields. In total, a list of 32 places off-limits to refugees has been drawn-up.
On 6 August, Roman Staub, the mayor of Menizngen, where a refugee centre is to open in 2015, endorsed the new rules, telling media that migrants needed to be kept away from schools. “This is certainly a very difficult area, because here asylum seekers could meet our schoolchildren, young girls our young boys,” he said.
Several Swiss-based NGOs have denounced the moves as discriminatory and racist.
“For Switzerland, the home of the United Nations and its refugee agency, to introduce a blatantly discriminatory policy that effectively segregates asylum seekers from the communities in which they live is shocking,” said Gerry Simpson, senior refugee researcher for Human Rights Watch. “The Swiss authorities should encourage all Swiss communities to treat some of the world’s most vulnerable people with respect and dignity, rather than reinforcing prejudice and division.”
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there were just over 50,000 refugees, as well as around 22,000 registered asylum seekers in Switzerland. Following the opening of the new refugee centre in Bremgarten, the county is to open eight more in the near future.
The next scheduled for opening is in the town of Alpnach on 19 August. The town's mayor told Swiss media that asylum seekers would be restricted from schools, sports facilities, a retirement home, and an entire neighbourhood near the refugee centre.
“After mishandling the opening of the first new asylum seeker reception center, the authorities still have a chance to redeem themselves,” said Gerry Simpson. “Instead of encouraging local communities to treat asylum seekers like unwelcome threats to public safety and hygiene, politicians should do everything they can to protect them and encourage their integration into communities.”