Wednesday, August 31, 2016
FILE - In this May 1, 2014 file photo a sub-Saharan migrant argues with a Spanish Guardia Civil officer holding a baton, as they sit on top of a metallic fence that divides Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla. Spain said around 700 African migrants have rushed its barbed wire border fences in the North African enclave of Melilla, and although police repelled most, 140 managed to enter Spanish territory. (AP Photo/Fernando Garcia, file)
The government has decided to contribute CHF5 million ($5.1 million) to a European emergency trust fund to combat the causes of migration from Africa.
The Swiss participation will boost international cooperation to tackle the roots of migration in the countries of origin and in transit states, according to the justice ministry.
It also allows Switzerland to decide which projects it wants to support to complement Swiss aid programmes already underway, the statement added.
At the Africa migration summit on Malta last November, 25 European Union member states, as well as Norway and Switzerland launched the €1.8 billion (CHF1.97 billion) fund. It aims to support the most fragile countries, notably in the Sahel region, the Horn of Africa and northern Africa.
“The fund aims to help foster stability in the regions to respond to the challenges of irregular migration and displacement and contribute to better migration management,” the statement quotes a European Commission document.
Switzerland, along with most other European states, has been trying to cope with a wave of immigration from the Middle East and Africa over the past few years.
An estimated 100,000 immigrants of African background currently live in Switzerland, according to the African Diaspora Council.
Applicants from Somalia and Eritrea, as well as Nigeria, regularly top the list of asylum seekers.