Alone with the law and their conscience

The interviewers are civil servants put in charge of the hearings to evaluate a request for asylum. These hearings are the pivotal point in the whole procedure because it is based on the asylum seeker’s declaration and the analysis of the interviewer that a decision is taken: refusal to treat the request = 24h to leave the country; temporary admission = 12 months in Switzerland; refugee status = Protection for life.

The asylum seeker has to attend two interviews. The aim of the first is to verify the asylum seekers identity and the reasons for his request. The second aims to look more closely and clarify the asylum seekers motives. The asylum seekers declaration is the key to the whole asylum process. The asylum seeker does not have to give proof but their story must be credible: The interviewer must certify the probability not the truth of the declaration. These interviews are not easy to carry out, despite having solid experience interviewers often come face to face with human tragedy. However they must remain vigilant and find the multitude of stories that are completely fabricated. To help them in this task they rely on the important ODM database, language experts, bone structure analysis, investigations in the asylum seekers country as well as the clues that the Securitas find on the asylum seekers as they are being registered.

The interviewers have to answer only to the law and their conscience when they make a decision. They than type up the decision and announce it out loud to the asylum seeker. Less than one percent of asylum seekers are granted refugee status at Vallorbe.