Swiss borders face increased migrant pressure

So far this year Swiss authorities have picked up 22,181 people who entered Switzerland illegally, a third of those in July alone. Guards on the Italian border have been particularly busy, turning away 4,149 people last month. In July alone, 3,560 people who had made it across the border into Ticino, the Italian-speaking southern canton, were immediately sent back to Italy – more than the number of people for the whole first seven months of 2015. The Swiss Border Guard said on Wednesday that since the beginning of this year, 8,298 people had been stopped at Swiss borders, up from 3,526 people for the same period in 2015. The number of illegal immigrants found in Switzerland – 22,181 – had also increased from 13,213 for the same period last year. Most of these people came from Eritrea. Many others, including those stopped at the border, had travelled from Gambia, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Somalia. Guards could not determine the nationality for 1,284 people, who had ...