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Swiss Village Would Rather Pay £200,000 Fine Than Take In 10 Syrian Refugees — ‘They Just Won’t Fit In,’ Says Town Of 300 Millionaires

By Alap Naik Desai
Published on: 03:45 PST, May 30, 2016

A small Swiss village has opted to pay a hefty fine of £200,000 rather than offer shelter to just 10 Syrian refugees. The village, which has about 300 millionaires, thinks the refugees “won’t fit in.”

One of the Europe’s wealthiest villages has flatly refused to accommodate 10 refugees fleeing the brutal and savage civil war in Syria. The town elected to fork out 290,000 Swiss francs (about $292,000) instead. The town was asked to offer shelter to the refugees as part of the country’s newly imposed quota.

The Swiss government had recently announced a quota system to take in about 50,000 asylum seekers. The plan was to distribute the refugees across the country according to the quota system that was developed after considering various aspects of the region.

The European Union (EU) had released plans that indicated it would take in about 20,000 refugees. However, the Swiss have outpaced the EU by confirming it would offer shelter to 50,000 refugees. Switzerland isn’t a member of the EU, but it is part of Europe’s free travel “Schengen” area.

Incidentally, quite a few of the people fleeing conflicts in Syria and elsewhere are not actively seeking refuge in the small Alpine nation. Still, the country has set up five refugee centers under the quota system. The centers sift through asylum applicants and send those most likely to qualify to cantons, reported the Telegraph. People have to live in the cantons while their cases are heard. Once the process is completed, the refugees are granted political asylum. Switzerland has 26 counties and plans to distribute the refugees among them.

According to the quota system, the Swiss village of Oberwil-Lieli had to accommodate just 10 refugees. However, residents of the Swiss village voted “No” in a recently released referendum on whether to accept the refugees. The majority of the townsfolk feel the refugees “wouldn’t fit in.” Incidentally, the vote was quite close with 52 percent voting to refuse entry, while 48 percent agreeing to offer asylum, reported the Independent.

The Swiss village of Oberwil-Lieli houses some of the richest families in the Alpine nation. The town has a small population of 2,200 residents. However, it boasts of 300 millionaires. Needless to say, the village considers itself quite elite. As they turned down a government order, the village was slapped with the hefty fine, but the town says it will gladly pay but will continue to refuse entry to asylum seekers.

The Daily Mail quoted a woman on condition of anonymity as saying, “We do not want them here, it is as simple as that. We have worked hard all our lives and have a lovely village that we do not want spoiled. We are not suited to take in refugees, they would not fit in here.”

The outright refusal to harbor the small number of refugees by directly rejecting the Swiss government’s plans has outraged many. Quite a few people, even within the town’s population, are accusing the village folk of racism.

Even in peaceful Switzerland, the issue of asylum seekers is proving to be a politically sensitive issue. The country’s biggest party, the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), remains strongly opposed to any measures that might encourage more refugees, most of whom are Muslim, to come, reported Haartez.

The town’s right-wing mayor, Andreas Glarner, shot down the notion that the refusal stemmed from racism.

“We were not to be told if the 10 were from Syria or if they are economic migrants from other countries. Yes, the refugees from Syria have to be helped and they are better served by being helped in the camps nearer their home. Money could be sent to help them, but if we are housing them here it sends out the wrong message.

“Others will come and risk their lives crossing the ocean and paying people smugglers to bring them. They are not likely to be able to speak the language and if some of the refugees have children they will have to go into the local school where they will need special focus.”

[Photo by Michael Buholzer/Getty Images]

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