Switzerland intends to negotiate an agreement with Eritrea. It was announced by the Swedish Secretary of Migration this week.
Schraner Burgener, State Secretary for Migration, in an interview with the Swiss newspaper SonntagsBlick disclosed that Swiss government would send a liaison officer to talk to Eritrea. The liaison officer will be stationed in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and will visit Eritrea regularly.
Eritrea has been refusing to take back its citizens whose asylum cases have been rejected in Switzerland. There are currently around 260 Eritreans in Switzerland whose asylum applications were rejected. Swiss government hopes to negotiate an agreement with the Eritrean government about the deportations of these Eritreans.
In June, Swiss Parliament approved a motion urging the government to negotiate an agreement with a third country to deport the Eritreans whose asylum cases have been rejected.
On Saturday, hundreds of Eritreans held a demonstration in Bern Switzerland. They opposed deportation of Eritrean asylum seekers asking the Swiss government to respect refugee rights.
The protesters chanted slogans against “transnational repression” by Eritrean government accusing the Eritrean government of harassing, blackmailing and targeting Eritreans diaspora community. This week Abdi Salam Babiker, UN Special Rapporteur on Eritrea, voiced allegations of “transnational repression” being allegedly committed by Eritrean government.
Eritrean opposition and pro government groups have been involved in violent clashes since last year. Dozens of Eritreans have been injured and several killed in these incidents in Europe, Israel, US and Canada. The growing trend of violence in Eritrean diaspora community is leading to pressure on Eritrean community in general. It is becoming increasingly difficult for new asylums seekers to get their asylum cases approved in European countries.
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