"We fight for… an immediate discharge of the bordering cantons, especially in the south [of the country]. The identity checks in bordering regions need to be enforced. An increase in border guards is therefore necessary. In the event of continuous aggravation in these regions, the government will need to deploy additional support measures," Christophe Darbellay said.
Darbellay’s center-right party came in fourth in last Sunday’s parliamentary election, which was overshadowed by the worsening European refugee crisis and the Swiss government’s decision to share the burden of accommodating refugees with the European Union despite growing national anti-immigration sentiment.
The politician added that his party is in favor of disallowing trips abroad for asylum seekers, prohibiting those residing in refugee camps from working, and the implementation of the Schengen/Dublin guidelines for dealing with asylum applications.
"All member countries need to stick to their contractual obligations. Switzerland needs to exercise pressure on an international scale. In addition, we want a proportional distribution of asylum seekers according to the size of the population of Dublin member states," Darbellay stressed.
Although not an EU member, Switzerland has adopted many of the bloc’s policies, including its freedom of movement agreement. However, a huge inflow of immigrants prompted the nation to vote in favor of introducing immigration quotas in a referendum last year.
The EU migration crisis further tilted Swiss public opinion to the right this year after the government volunteered to accept 1,500 refugees under the EU resettlement plan. Some 12,000 people sought asylum in the country in the first half of 2015.
