Currently, around 800 asylum seekers are arriving in Switzerland weekly, a number that has pushed the nation’s federal capacity to accommodate arrivals to the point of saturation, reported RTS this week.
To continue to cope with the influx Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) regularly adds capacity, however, this has not been enough it said.
To reduce the pressure on federal centres asylum seekers are will sent to cantons faster from 27 October 2022. Fast tracked asylum seekers can spend as long as 140 days in a federal centre before being transferred. However, this period will soon be cut short in some cases in order find accommodation for everyone. This means cantons will need to find more places for asylum seekers.
In collaboration with Switzerland’s army an additional 20 buildings have been put into operation across the country to accommodate asylum seekers. Cantons may need to convert public buildings such as gyms and convention centres into accommodation.
Daniel Buch, a spokesperson from SEM, told RTS that they had been expecting a rise in numbers over autumn but not at the current level. Buch said that arrival numbers are already at the level of the migration crisis in 2015/2016 when large numbers fled Syria, Kosovo and Afghanistan.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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