Switzerland and Italy want to “further improve” their cooperation on border security. At the end of a meeting in Chiasso with the Italian Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi, Beat Jans noted the achievements but also the challenges still to be overcome.
Switzerland has had to take care of a thousand asylum seekers since Italy decided to no longer take care of applicants for whom it would be responsible under the Dublin agreements, from December 2022, Beat said on Monday. Jans in Chiasso (TI). Of this number, around 390 have received a positive response to their asylum application, while the others are in the removal procedure.
On the other hand, bilateral agreements concluded with the transalpine neighbor made it possible to return to Italy some 4,100 people who had entered Switzerland illegally, added the head of the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP).
The latter said he was confident in the will and capacity of the two countries to fight effectively against smuggling networks and irregular immigration.
Cooperation within the framework of the customs and police center, run jointly at the southern border in Chiasso with mixed patrols, was described as “good”.
Do not touch Schengen
The two ministers expressed the interest of both countries in renewing their bilateral police agreement. Beat Jans affirmed his wish that Italy once again applies the Dublin commitments, particularly with a view to the solidarity mechanism provided for in the European pact on migration and asylum.
He also said that the Schengen area “should not be called into question, because Schengen is synonymous with security for Europe.”
For his part, Matteo Piantedosi recalled the strong migratory pressure weighing on his country, at the external Schengen borders, which justified his suspending his commitment within the framework of the Dublin agreements. These define the jurisdiction of countries for processing asylum applications, depending on the applicant’s background.
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