More than 1,300 illegal migrants entered Switzerland in the first week of July

20 Minutes.

During the first week of July, Swiss immigration officers witnessed a rise in the number of people illegally entering Switzerland.

A record number of more than 1,300 people were stopped at the border in Ticino after illegally entering the country between 4 and 10 July. The majority, 665, were from Eritrea.

According to Swiss immigration, not all of those who enter illegally are considered refugees. Those who request asylum are sent to federal welcome centre. Between these dates 966 of the total were sent back to the border.

Other immigration points across the country have been relatively quiet. During the same week, immigration staff at Graubünden and St. Gallen stopped only 16 illegal migrants. Valais and Vaud (157), and Basel and Schaffhausen (93) were also fairly quiet.

The first quarter of 2016, saw a year-on-year rise in the number of illegal migrants of more than 40%. Across the first quarter of 2015, 10,362 illegal migrants were recorded. In 2016, the same period saw 14,602. Over these periods, the majority entered the country via the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino.

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