Editorial on Syria: Switzerland acted too quickly

By suspending asylum procedures for people of Syrian nationality, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) made an extremely premature decision. It thus endangers human rights and, consequently, the lives of men and women, in a country ravaged by civil war for more than ten years.

Certainly, the authoritarian regime of Bashar al-Assad has fallen, and millions of Syrians are delighted to finally taste this freedom of which they had been deprived for a little over half a century. But this happiness is not enough to dispel the political instability in which the country is plunged.

Damaged by this armed conflict, Syria must rebuild everything, with, for the moment, many unknowns for its future. And this may take time, with the threat of new conflicts between the different populations and political factions making up the country.

The decision of the SEM was not long in coming. He thus gave in to pressure from the UDC and certain neighboring countries. All this seems all the more premature as a possible arrival in large numbers of migrants from Syria would not materialize for several weeks, or even several months.

Switzerland could therefore have allowed itself to think before taking such a hasty measure. Let us not forget that, behind these figures and these decisions, it is about humans that we are talking about.

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Laure Schmidt has been a trainee journalist in the Swiss section of the Tamedia editorial team since September 2023. She previously studied social sciences and psychology at the University of Lausanne.More info

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