Swiss may try to expel Eritreans whose asylum bids fail

ZURICH – Switzerland could try to expel as many as 3,200 Eritreans whose requests for asylum fail, marking a major policy switch in a country that has granted thousands temporary refuge, broadcaster SRF reported on Wednesday.

People from Eritrea - which has drawn criticism over its human rights record - topped the Swiss list of asylum seekers last year with nearly a fifth of the more than 18,000 overall requests. More than 13,700 Eritreans were in the asylum process in February.

The policy switch, hailed by conservatives and attacked by the left, followed a Swiss court ruling last year that Eritreans who have completed their military service can safely be sent home.

Now authorities have started to inform Eritreans that they have to leave, SRF's Rundschau program said, although they cannot force people out as Switzerland lacks a treaty on repatriations with the Horn of Africa country.