About 500 Syrians affected by Swiss asylum freeze

The suspension of asylum procedures decided Monday following the fall of Bashar al-Assad affects 500 Syrian applicants in Switzerland, according to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). The freeze applies only to procedures already underway, the SEM clarified, seeking to clarify a decision "that has not been understood." +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox The suspension for Syrian asylum seekers "simply postpones the decision until the situation is clearer," said SEM spokeswoman Anne Césard, when contacted by the Keystone-SDA news agency. The State Secretariat of Migration was unable to say when the applications of the 500 people whose procedure has been suspended were submitted. New asylum applications are still possible and the freeze on forced returns to Syria, decided in 2011, remains in place, Anne Césard said, reiterating that the SEM decision "has not been understood." According to October data, some 10 people have so far received a removal ...