“I was a stranger and you took me in” (Mt 25:35): that was the theme of Peoples’ Day celebrated in Switzerland on Sunday, 9 November. To mark the Day, the Swiss bishops issued a document in which they address the problem of the “sans-papiers”, clandestine immigrants without documents. The bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg, Msgr. Bernard Genoud, recalled the various stages of the occupation of the parish premises of St. Paul in Fribourg and stressed that the “sans papiers” especially have the “right to be treated as persons”. The bishops ask that the various categories of “sans-papiers” be properly distinguished: there are those who are regularly living in Switzerland, but for various reasons remain in a situation of illegality; but there are also those who have never received a residence permit; those who have gravely infringed the law; and lastly asylum-seekers. To solve the situation, the bishops propose some basic criteria: duration of residence permits, employment without interruption and willingness of the employer to renew labour contracts; no penal implication; presence of children in the case of families, because “children cannot be punished as a result of the illegal situation of their parents”. The bishops lastly ask for “a change in our attitude to foreigners” and a commitment to “reducing the times for the processing of applications”. “Moreover they add the current hypocrisy of certain employers, who exploit people who find themselves in situations of illegality by depriving them of social security and proper pay, is unacceptable”.
