Swiss justice minister defends asylum policy

Swiss Justice Minister Beat Jans has rejected criticism of Switzerland’s asylum policy. In an interview, he said Switzerland was doing well compared with other European countries. +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox The number of asylum applications had fallen, there were fewer pending cases and more rejected asylum-seekers were returning to their countries, Jans told the Tamedia newspapers. The new 24-hour procedure was working and the security situation in the asylum centers had also improved, he said. In addition, Switzerland had only half as many cases of people being apprehended at the border as in the previous year. + Asylum in Switzerland Jans also commented on the latest developments in asylum policy in European countries. According to Tamedia, a hectic pace has broken out there. He emphasised how delicate certain projects could be and cited Italy as an example. The government there wanted to carry out asylum procedures in Albania, but was turned ...