‘They Don’t Beat You; They Work on Your Brain’

In 2006, Swiss citizens approved new asylum legislation which excludes rejected asylum seekers living in Switzerland from conventional state aid. The aim was to deter their will to stay. This new law was part of a general trend in Europe that aims to exclude ever more asylum claimants from the welfare state’s benefits. Analysis shows that European public opinion, media and politics feared that access to welfare states would serve as a magnet for undesired aliens (Bloch and Schuster, 2002). Nevertheless, in Switzerland, the application of this new law has been made difficult by Article 12 of the constitution, which guarantees anyone present on Swiss territory and unable to provide for his or her basic needs the minimal assistance required to survive with dignity. Consequently, illegalized migrants living in Switzerland have also access to this social right, independent of any existing cooperation with authorities (Sanchez-Mazas et al., 2011, p. 303). After a long political and public debate, special public assistance for rejected asylum seekers still residing in Switzerland was instituted. Inspired by Article 12 of the Swiss Constitution, the aid is called “emergency help”, alluding to its fleeting and minimal character. As a result, since January 2008, cantonal authorities have been appointing semi-public or private organizations to manage the population of rejected asylum seekers in collective centres and to offer them shelter, food and the minimum needed to survive in kind.