«Bülach supports refugees»

Attendance

The appeal to the city council of 8 April 2020 states:

“Dear Mr President
Dear Sir or Madam

Conditions in the Syrian-Turkish, Turkish-Greek border areas and elsewhere are unsustainable. We will not stand idly by and watch this humanitarian disaster unfold. We also have a duty to offer our support for rapid and efficient assistance.

We therefore make the following demands to the authorities of the city of Bülach:

• The city makes a substantial financial contribution to non-profit organisations with a focus on refugee aid. This is to be in addition to the already budgeted amount for development aid at home and abroad. The referendum of 10 June 2001 contains the necessary legal framework.
• The authority would take the necessary steps to take in 20 particularly vulnerable refugees directly from the crisis areas (1 per thousand of the resident population) and would make a corresponding offer to the competent federal authority.

Given the urgency of our concern, we are choosing this route of a public appeal. The current situation allows the authority to act quickly and unconventionally”.

05/2020 advertisement

In the City Council’s response, it says: “The City Council is also concerned about the conditions in the Syrian-Turkish and Turkish-Greek border areas, which have been exacerbated by the Corona situation”. For this reason, the city council stated at the beginning of April in the
Foreign aid CHF 15,000 transferred to the Swiss Red Cross for the benefit of local refugees. The city council also decided to donate a one-off sum of CHF 50,000 in 2020 in addition to the normal foreign aid budget for the refugees.

A partial success for the initiative. With regard to the demand for direct admission, the city council refers to the responsibility of the federal government. The Zürcher Unterländer reports on this: However, Dieter Liechti believes that the city could easily knock on the door of the federal government. There is no reason why the municipalities should not send a signal to Bern. “In Bülach we have the necessary infrastructure, the money and the people to take in additional refugees. He was aware, however, that not all people would see it that way.

06/2020 Answer from the City Council

06/2020 Media report

Document

Link to the original document

Press reports

«Bülach könnte noch mehr Geflüchtete aufnehmen»
Le comité “Bülach soutient les réfugiés” souhaite que la ville accueille vingt personnes particulièrement vulnérables. Le conseil municipal nie toute responsabilité.