The Swiss authorities have announced that the country has signed a migration agreement with Guinea-Bissau.
The agreement was signed by State Secretary Christine Schraner Burgener on February 27, 2023, in Bern, and according to the State Secretariat for Migration, the agreement regulates readmission and irregular stay issues, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“The agreement regulates issues related to the readmission of persons with an irregular stay and enables good governance in the area of migration to be strengthened in Guinea-Bissau,” the statement of the State Secretariat for Migration reads.
During the meeting with the delegation from Guinea-Bissau, Burgener said that it is important for the two countries to strengthen cooperation with one another and stressed that migration issues remain of prime importance.
Burgener stressed that the two countries should particularly focus on the readmission of persons who are staying illegally in Switzerland, suggesting that the country wants to send back all those who do not hold the necessary documentation.
“Even if only a few nationals from Guinea-Bissau apply for asylum in Switzerland, the agreement makes it possible to regulate questions relating to the identification of persons illegally present and the issuance of the travel documents required for the return organisation,” the State Secretariat for Migration highlighted.
State Secretariat for Migration further said that it also intends to get involved in specific local projects to support Guinea-Bissau in the area of migration. Among many others, it plans to help the country to digitise the civil status register, which will make it easier for the authorities to register and navigate data.
Switzerland continues to remain one of the countries that registers a high number of asylum applications due to its economic stability as well as its laws in general.
Data provided by the State Secretariat for Migration show that last year Switzerland registered 24,511 asylum applications, representing a 64.2 per cent increase compared to 2021.
Commenting on the high number of asylum applications registered last year, the Secretariat said that this happened, among others, due to the lifting of the Coronavirus restrictions, increase pressure on some refugees, and rising prices.
The same revealed that nationals of Afghanistan filed the highest number of asylum applications last year. Afghans filed a total of 7,054 asylum applications in 2022.
Nationals of other countries also filed a high number of asylum applications. The list of countries whose nationals filed a high number of applications in 2022 also includes Türkiye, Eritrea, Algeria, and Syria.
>> 2,523 Asylum Applications Recorded in Switzerland in January 2023