«Neuenhof (AG): Reception of refugees from the Moria camp»

Attendance

25.11.20: Request to the municipality of Neuenhof (AG),

• to agree to take in 7 refugees from Moria;
• To call on the canton and the federal government to take the necessary measures to enable the reception of refugees from Moria;
• to coordinate with the cities and municipalities in the canton of Aargau as well as with Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne, Lucerne, St. Gallen, Winterthur and Zurich, which are taking similar initiatives to take in refugees.

09.12.20: Rejection by the municipal council

In justifying its rejection, the municipal council refers to the responsibilities of the federal government and the canton. The municipality of Neuenhof has an obligation to take in 22 persons, but is already looking after 57 persons in the cantonal accommodation and 30 persons in the municipality’s own accommodation. It is thus already making an above-average contribution in the asylum sector. In conclusion, the municipality states:

“We are not opposed to accepting additional persons in the canton of Aargau. However, in the view of the municipal council, the reception of additional asylum seekers must continue to be carried out via the cantonal shelters, as there is a great need for integration efforts, especially in the first period after arrival, which only the cantonal asylum centre can provide. The communes lack the possibilities and necessary resources for the necessary care and support.”

Excerpt from the response of the municipal council

This initiative is part of the campaign “500 people for Aargau”.

The refugee camps in Greece are in dire straits. Several tens of thousands of refugees are locked up in camps under the most degrading conditions. Their situation is so unbearable that at Easter 2020, the three national churches of Switzerland jointly appealed to the Federal Council to alleviate the tragedy and accept 5000 refugees from Greece into Switzerland.

The campaign “500 people for the municipalities in Aargau” takes up this appeal and wants to achieve that municipalities and cities voluntarily increase their quota for taking in people. In this way, they can create the necessary capacity in and with the canton for the government to register the “free space” with the federal government for the admission of people from precarious camps. Numerous communes have already given positive feedback.

Ask your municipality in Aargau to take in people too. The requests are coordinated by the association Netzwerk Asyl Aargau.

Letter template “500 people for the municipalities in Aargau”.

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