On 10 March 2016, Switzerland’s administration published numbers on asylum requests in February 2016. 2,705 requests were made during the month. Most came from citizens of Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Eritrea.
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February’s number is more that 25% lower than January, when 3,618 requests were filed.
The same countries, Afghanistan (651 requests), Syria (244 requests), Iraq (221 requests), and Eritrea (181 requests) featured at the top of the list. The largest change was the number coming from Afghanistan, down from 1,224 in January to 651 in February. Requests from Syria dropped from 488 to 244, those from Iraq from 367 to 221 and those from Eritrea from 233 to 181.
The fall in the numbers from Eritrea is notable. In 2015, 9,966 of the annual total of 39,523 were Eritreans, the largest group, ahead of the 7,831 Afghan citizens who applied.
The press release said that in Europe and Switzerland, the refugee situation continues to be strained because of ongoing conflict in the world’s hotspots.
Over the course of February, 2,845 asylum demands were processed, 1,006 resulted in rejection, 583 qualified for asylum, and 647 provisional entry.
In February, 920 people left Switzerland or were repatriated. Of the 2,150, that Switzerland has requested be taken by other Dublin regulation member states, 355 were transferred during the month. 48 arrived in Switzerland from other states.
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