Asylum controversy
Refugees once morest tenants: the UDC minister apologizes
Aargau State Councilor Jean-Pierre Gallati finally reacted to the case of Windisch (AG), where a real estate development is at the origin of the problem.
Published
Jean-Pierre Gallati, Head of the Department of Health and Social Affairs of Aargau.
20 minutes
The controversy has not ceased in German-speaking Switzerland, regarding the case of the municipality of Windisch. Last week, 49 people living in 32 low-rent apartments received their leave letter. They learned that the canton was going to house a hundred refugees there in their place. This situation has raised a wave of indignation, particularly political. The SVP took the opportunity to denounce the asylum policy led by Elisabeth Baume-Schneider.
After two days of controversy, the facts are, in reality, much more complex than the anger they have aroused. It all starts on Monday with a press release from the president of the municipality, Heidi Ammon (UDC), addressed to the inhabitants: “In order to be able to accommodate asylum seekers, the owner of the property terminated the leases of the 49 previous tenants at the end of June” . In fact, it was a misleading shortcut.
Nothing to do with refugees
On Wednesday, the promoter who bought these dilapidated buildings last fall wrote to the SRF to give his point of view. This real estate professional, who runs several companies, explains that his objective is to raze these old buildings to make new ones. According to him, this is the only reason why the tenants received a letter of leave and it had nothing to do with the refugees.
A three-year contract
It was then that the canton asked the owner if, before their destruction, these dwellings might temporarily accommodate refugees and be adapted for unaccompanied minors seeking asylum. Rather than leaving these buildings empty, the owner accepted the township’s proposal. According to “Blick”, a contract was signed for three years. The owner says he is sorry for the tenants, who would have received a letter of leave anyway, one day or another. The situation with the refugees seems to have only rushed things.
A bad review
According to the “TagesAnzeiger”, the president of the municipality is angry with the canton which communicated badly in this affair. In the canton, it is his party colleague, Jean-Pierre Gallati (UDC), who is responsible for the management of asylum. After several days of silence, he sent a press release on Wednesday at the end of the day where he finally apologized “to the tenants concerned and to the Municipal Council of Windisch”. He explains that his department made a bad assessment of the situation of these buildings and that it had not paid attention “to the effects of the cancellations on the tenants”.
Solutions for everyone
From now on, the canton wants to seek a solution for the people concerned, in consultation with the municipality and the owner: “The objective is that people can stay at home until they have an alternative solution”, writes the department. Everyone will now sit around a table to discuss. Maybe we should have started there.
