Faced with rising numbers of asylum seekers, Switzerland’s government is under pressure to invest more money to reduce the strain on the country’s overloaded refugee housing. This week, the Federal Council requested parliament approve a loan of CHF 132.9 million to cover the cost, reported RTS. Already in 2023, 27,000 asylum seekers have arrived in […]
Initiative to house asylum seekers outside Switzerland
This week, a group of politicians from the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) announced a new popular initiative aimed at asylum seekers, according to the newspaper 20 Minutes. The initiative aims to put in place a system of on-the-spot asylum assistance where asylum seekers are housed in secure zones in their home country or nearby. Switzerland […]
Asylum requests down in Switzerland
The latest figures on second quarter asylum requests in Switzerland show a drop of 11% compared to the same quarter in 2018. In the second quarter of 2019, there were 3,347 requests, according to the government. Eritrea, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka were the three leading countries of origin. In June, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration […]
Swiss farm job programme for asylum seekers a success
A new programme, based on a pilot project which ran for three years, has been launched. The programme will help asylum seekers to work on Swiss farms. Five Swiss cantons have signed up to the programme, which offers asylum seekers entry level farming apprenticeships. 12 have already signed up to start in August. The five […]
Big change in the number of asylum requests in Switzerland
Switzerland’s administration says migration remains volatile and unpredictable. Making reliable forecasts for 2016 is impossible given the number of hard to influence factors impacting on migration routes. The first quarter of 2016 saw 8,315 asylum requests in Switzerland, around 45% fewer than the final quarter of 2015. The 1992 requests in March were down almost […]
Swiss asylum requests dropped in January
Statistics released today show the number of asylum requests fell by nearly a quarter in January, compared to December. A total of 3,618 applications were lodged during the month. The largest number, 1,224, came from Afghanistan, followed by Syria (488), Iraq (367) and Eritrea (233). The Swiss State Secretariat of Migration said that numbers typically drop during […]
Swiss approach to preventing Cologne-like sex attacks ahead of carnival
Ahead of the Luzern carnival, which runs from 4 to 9 February 2016, the canton has produced a six page flyer featuring pictograms, covering subjects such as gender equality, religious tolerance, democracy, rule of law and rules around social interaction. The Swissinfo video below explains that the flyer is intended to inform foreigners about western behavioural norms […]
