Switzerland has 'successfully mastered' refugee challenges: Rights group

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ISTANBUL (AA) - Although the Swiss government has expressed the need for more accommodation facilities and the special protection status given to Ukrainian refugees was recently suspended, a Swiss human rights group said Switzerland has "successfully mastered" refugee challenges.

Underlining that Russia's war in Ukraine has triggered "the largest movement of refugees" since World War II, the Swiss Refugee Council told Anadolu Agency: "It is the first time that we have such a large involvement of the civil society in the accommodation and integration of refugees."

"In order to organize the reception of these people (Ukrainian refugees), the federal government activated protection status S for the first time," the council said. "In addition, numerous refugees from Ukraine were placed with host families.

"From the point of view of the Swiss Refugee Council, Switzerland has successfully mastered these challenges," it said, adding that from what they have seen, "the solidarity of the Swiss people has been – and still is - enormous and the commitment of civil society impressive."

"Host families are so directly affected by the situation of the refugees," it said. "This creates more awareness, more sensitization. Private accommodation has created more understanding for refugees."

- Alpine nation lacks accommodation amid influx of people fleeing Ukraine

The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) expects the number of refugees from Ukraine to reach around 75,000 by the end of the year and the number of asylum seekers to 24,000. That's why additional army personnel have been ordered to help find more beds on Friday.

The SEM, together with the army, has already increased the number of accommodation places from 5,000 to more than 9,000 beds since the spring.

According to the secretariat, around 3,000 additional places will be needed in the "medium term," while the army is making about 2,100 accommodation places available by relocating recruit and cadre schools as well as refresher courses. This capacity can be further increased to around 2,700 spaces, it added.

Blaming the incapacity of the country as it faces an influx of people fleeing Ukraine, Switzerland temporarily suspended participation in a UN program aimed at resettling vulnerable refugees on Monday.

The latest data showed that a total of 3,568 asylum applications were registered in Switzerland in November, 360 more than in the previous month. Compared to the same period in 2021, the number of asylum applications has increased by 2,007.

Also, 2,493 out of 2,619 people who had fled Ukraine were granted protection status S by the Alpine nation in November, while 80 people seeking protection were rejected as their applications could not meet the criteria.

Some 6,123 cases of the protection status S have been terminated since its activation, while in 2,010 cases, the termination is under examination.

At the end of November, a total of 61,553 people had protection status S, the data showed.

Status S was activated by the Swiss Federal Council on March 12, for the first time for the admission of vulnerable people from Ukraine.

The country is going through a spike in applications as the number of cases pending in the first instance increased by 1,857 to 11,321 compared to the previous month.