The citizens of Steckborn (TG) clearly opposed a proposal from a citizens’ movement on Thursday. He wanted a federal asylum center to be closed.
After almost two hours of discussion, the residents of Steckborn voted by a large majority in favor of maintaining the federal center for asylum seekers on the territory of their municipality.
In total, 692 voters participated in this extraordinary municipal meeting. Only a few dozen people supported the proposal of the citizen movement, which wanted to terminate the contract between the municipality and the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), which would have led to the closure of the center.
>> Listen to the details from 12:30 p.m.: The village of Steckborn (TG) democratically validates the maintenance of an asylum center / 12:30 p.m. / 1 min. / yesterday at 12:36
Extraordinary meeting
The citizen movement had submitted 130 signatures of voters in December 2023. According to the regulations of this municipality of around 4,000 inhabitants, it could therefore request the holding of an extraordinary meeting.
This was a first in Switzerland, explained the SEM. Its spokesperson Reto Kormann was relieved and said he was proud of this clear and democratic decision in favor of the asylum center.
No negative impact demonstrated
According to the initiators, part of the population is opposed to accommodating applicants in the locality due to security problems. They mention home invasions, thefts, threats, harassment, fights, acts of incivility and public drunkenness.
The Thurgau cantonal police refute these arguments. From a statistical point of view, the police say they have “no indication that the accommodation center for applicants would have a negative impact on the security situation in Steckborn”.
The mayor of Steckborn Roland Toletti (non-party) distanced himself from the initiators. According to him, terminating the contract is not a solution and it is not defensible from a moral and ethical point of view.
Ongoing procedures
The Confederation rented the civil protection facility in Steckborn in 2016 as temporary emergency accommodation in the event of a tense situation in the asylum area. The structure remained empty for a long time, but with the war in Ukraine, it has been occupied since 2022.
Today, refugees from other countries whose asylum procedure is ongoing are accommodated for an average of 53 days in Steckborn. Before the vote, many people spoke out against the proposed termination of the contract.
ats/hkr