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Switzerland

Switzerland: Covid-19 and Detention

2 February 2021
Frambois Detention Centre Seen From Outside in 2011, (Fernand Melgar,
Frambois Detention Centre Seen From Outside in 2011, (Fernand Melgar, "Le directeur de la prison genevoise de Frambois sous enquête administrative," RTS, 3 April 2013, https://www.rts.ch/info/regions/geneve/4790749-le-directeur-de-la-prison-genevoise-de-frambois-sous-enquete-administrative.html)

On 26 January 2021, the SRF/RTS reported that the Asylum Departure Centre in Aarwangen was placed under quarantine by the Canton of Bern because 19 of its 100 inhabitants had tested positive for COVID-19. They also closed the facility’s kindergarten and school. On 29 January 2021, the Canton reported that the number of positive cases had increased to 32, one of which a mutated version of the virus (it was not explicitly stated that the mutation was the B117 strain).

Asylum seekers at the Aarwangen centre have said that there has been over-congestion, as well as mismanagement of early isolation orders and sanitary conditions. An article in Berner Zeitung (30 January 2021) reported that a woman and her five family members, who all tested positive for COVID-19, were not receiving food, and that the woman had to go to the closest town herself to shop. Residents were reportedly provided with just one mask a week. A former centre employee confirmed that even though several people had warned them early on, the centre management ignored the impending danger of infections and let the situation escalate until the canton had to intervene and pay for the inhabitants’ food.

A SRF/RTS journalist, after exchanges with operators of the asylum centre, described how the quarantine situation (in terms of respecting hygiene rules and cohabitation) largely depends on the actions of those housed in the centre. For young men at the centre who face negative asylum decisions and deportation, the added health crisis worsens the difficult situation they find themselves in. A spokesperson ORS Service AG, which operates the centres, denounced criticism of operations at the centre. He argued that there is a tense atmosphere there even including attacks on staff, as well as instances of quarantined residents failing to follow internal health and safety regulations and instead mingling with other people.

The Swiss National Commission for the Prevention of Torture published a report on 18 January 2021 on the situation in the Federal Asylum Centres in Boudry, Balerna, Chiasso, Geneva Airport, Kappelen, Kreuzlingen, “Via Motta” (Chiasso), and ”Halle 9 Oerlikon,” which is operated by the city of Zurich. According to their findings, the accommodation of asylum seekers by the federal government conforms with human and fundamental rights, and they welcomed initiatives like primary school lessons and addiction consultations. Moting areas where improvement was needed, including better conflict prevention and resolution, and responding to complaints, they also reported that there is room for improvement in the identification of vulnerable people, access to basic psychiatric care, disciplinary measures and, infrastructure.

The cantonal authorities in Bern re-opened four centres for asylum seekers in 2020 in order to cope with the pandemic, in Gampelen, Enggistein (Worb), Konolfingen and Beatenberg, according to a 16 July 2020 letter from the Office for Population Services.

Irrespective of the pandemic, new centres are also planned in Switzerland for other purposes. On 2 February 2021, SRF/RTS reported that Neuchâtel would open two new reception centres for migrants in the coming months, aiming for their professional and social integration into local society. A “Special Federal Asylum Centre” in Les Verrières (Neuchâtel) is also to be reopened by the federal authorities in mid-February 2021. According to a press statement by the State Secretariat of Migration (2 February 2021), it will be reopened to house disruptive male asylum seekers from other federal asylum centres and will have stricter exit and safety rules. These developments follow media coverage of apparent increasing criminality around federal asylum centres (C. Liechti, 7 January 2021).

Deportations continue to be carried out by the Swiss authorities. Most recently, the planned forced return of five people to Ethiopia on 27 January 2021 was criticised by Amnesty International, AsyLex, and Migrant Solidarity Network. On 25 January 2021, Amnesty International demanded a halt in all forced returns to Ethiopia from Switzerland in light of the tense security situation and human rights violations in the country. On 26 January 2021, RTS reported that the deportations of two of the Ethiopians represented by AsyLex were suspended by the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) and the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Covid-19 Detention Data Europe Human Rights Switzerland