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The platform for the Sans-Papier demands: the federal government and the cantons should create a direct aid fund to help people without residence rights during the crisis. Photo: trapezoidal
From banker to cleaning lady: this is how a Sans-Papier experiences the crisis of the crown in Switzerland
People without residency rights are being pushed towards existential needs by the crisis in the crown. A sans-papiers platform now requires generous regularization. Maria from Latin America, who once worked in a bank in her home country and earned an excellent salary, hopes for this too.
The walks through the beautiful landscape, Basel, Bern, the Engadine, the churches full of history, peace, order and security: Maria (name changed) loves Switzerland, even clichés. When foreigners complain about Swiss neighbors alerting the police about the noise of the night party, they think: “You have to adapt, not the other way around.” Nearly seven years ago, Maria moved from a Latin American metropolis of millions to a larger municipality in the canton of Lucerne. She hardly misses her homeland, and certainly not the “political chaos,” says the woman, in her early 50s, with a technical college degree, when we meet her at the counseling center for undocumented papers in Lucerne.
María no longer has relatives in Latin America. In December 2013, she flew to Switzerland to support a single relative and her son who have been living in Switzerland for 30 years and have a red passport. Maria really takes on the role of father. Improve family income.
A life as a model student
“My nails don’t fall out when cleaning,” says María. With two families, she spruces up the apartment to a high gloss each week for an hourly wage of around 30 francs. Back in her former home country, she ran a great team at a bank and earned an excellent salary.
Maria entered Switzerland as a tourist without a visa. Since then she has lived in our country in a discreet and appropriate way, like a Swiss model, only that her stay is irregular. Maria does not live in constant fear of being exposed. You can’t tell by looking at it that it shouldn’t be there, she says.
The crown crisis, however, put Maria in big trouble. Her previous employer’s monthly pension, just under CHF 500, is blocked because the credit card expired in February. The Covid-19 crisis paralyzes the authorities in your home country to such an extent that even the simplest services fail. She was unable to clean for four months because her employers used the vacuum and broom themselves due to the shutdown. As a result, Maria’s disposable income fell to zero overnight. She was only able to resume work in July, albeit on a reduced basis.
Little by little, Maria is plagued with existential fears. Your loss of income weighs heavily. Sometimes you wonder: How can I pay my health insurance premium? How to fill the refrigerator? She is preoccupied with photographs of Geneva and Zurich, where, among other things, Sans-Papiers were queuing to order food. “These people have zero social security, although many have been fully integrated into economic life for years.”
Maria, who is politically interested, knows this: countries like Italy or Spain have already granted a residence permit to all the sans-papiers who entered the country before a certain period and who had a job. She would also like that for Switzerland. It is unfair that they are denied access to fundamental rights. Like a magnifying glass, the crisis in the crown brought this problem to light even more.
The economy needs Sans-Papiers as workers
According to Mattea Meyer, cantons handle requests very differently. Image: keystone
Mattea Meyer, National Councilor of Zurich SP and Co-Chair of the Platform for Sans Papiers in Switzerland, is also concerned about these conditions. “People without a residence permit are completely deprived of their rights,” she says. In view of the crown crisis, which cost many sans-papiers their jobs and drove them to need, the platform demands in a new position paper: the federal government and the cantons must create a direct aid fund to help to people without the right of residence during the crisis. However, above all, the platform is making a new attempt at regularization on a large scale.
At the moment, the path for Sans-Papiers is through the regulation of difficulties. Applicants must meet certain conditions, for example, be fluent in the local language, earn enough money, and abide by the rules. Last year, authorities approved almost 3,800 applications. According to Meyer, cantons handle applications very differently.
“Consistent and more generous guidelines for difficult situations applications would be a first step in the right direction,” he says. Basically, there are few, but clear criteria for collective legalization. Switzerland could be oriented towards Spain or Italy. “These two countries show that legalization is feasible,” Meyer says.
These days, a lot goes wrong when it comes to Sans-Papiers. “Many of them work, for example, in construction, in the hospitality industry or as domestic servants,” says Meyer. Apparently the economy needs Sans-Papiers as workers. But they ran the risk of being exploited and cheated with dumped wages. “Employers complain that competitors can bid cheaper with this illegal work.”
The resistance of the right is guaranteed
For Meyer, one thing is certain: “Regularization is the only comprehensive and sustainable solution to end the precarious situation of the sans-papiers and create the same duration in business.” She no longer wants to see how people in this country have to beg for food because they are denied access to basic rights.
How the platform for sans papiers will introduce their demands into daily politics is still open. First of all, you would like to wait for the Federal Council report on the Sans-Papiers problem, which is expected to be published by the end of the year.
However, resistance to the generous legalization of Sans-Papiers is already inevitable. The SVP asked the Federal Council, albeit to no avail, to stop the “Geneva practice”. The “Geneva practice” is the “Operation Papyrus”, thanks to which almost 2,400 people were granted regulated status.
Looking for work, traveling and having a great party
Maria hopes that the Federal Council will implement the platform proposals for Sans-Papiers. With a residence permit, Maria could actively offer her services as a cleaning lady, apply for other jobs, as a warehouse clerk, or perhaps even as a banker for Spanish-speaking clients. She also wants to improve her German. If you finally get a residence permit, you would like to travel to Europe. And throw a big party, but not so loud that the neighbors call the police.
