'Speed up asylum procedures': Minister
AFP - [email protected] •
29 Aug, 2011
Updated Mon 29 Aug 2011 10:21 CEST
Switzerland's asylum procedure, which can take years, should be "drastically" speeded up, Swiss Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga said in an interview published on Saturday.
"Our procedure takes an average of 1,400 days, which is much too long," the Socialist minister, who took up her job nine months ago, told the Tages Anzeiger daily.
Because it takes so long "our system has a credibility problem with the population," she added, insisting she was ready to "drastically cut the duration of the procedure" while admitting this in itself could take "several years."
The minister said Switzerland had taken in 1,300 Tunisian asylum-seekers this year and that "some of the young people from Tunisia are causing problems."
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