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After the Russian attack on Ukraine, Switzerland activated protection status S for the first time in March 2022. This means that refugees from Ukraine – mostly women and children – do not have to go through a complicated asylum procedure. You will quickly receive a temporary residence permit, be allowed to travel and get to work quickly.
At least that was the idea. But a look at current asylum statistics shows that rapid processing has come to a standstill. Last fall, the responsible employees of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) approved significantly fewer applications from Ukrainian women than were received.
In concrete terms, 800 fewer applications were processed in October than submitted. In November, more than 700 files of Ukrainians were postponed.
More applications were approved in March
In November 2023, almost 2,000 people from Ukraine applied to Switzerland. Only just under 1,000 received positive feedback this month and 112 applications were rejected.
It is not the case that the responsible migration officers were confronted with more applications from Ukraine in October or November than before. For example, in March 2023, more than 2,000 people applied for protection status S. But in March, the SEM was able to process approximately 2,000 applications, equal to the number of applications received.
More requests from Turkey
What happened at the responsible SEM? When asked, they were able to answer fewer questions from Ukrainians “for reasons of capacity” – due to the large number of asylum and protection applications.
The number of asylum applications through the normal procedure rose sharply in late summer and autumn, but has recently fallen slightly again, the SEM announced at the end of 2023.
There are no on-call workers available who can be deployed in the event of a sharp increase in the number of asylum or protection requests. “We were and can recruit additional staff to cope with the current wave of migration, but these staff must first be trained in this responsible task,” the SEM continues.
In October 2023, 3,515 regular asylum applications were received in Switzerland. That is 307 more than the year before, or about nine percent.
At the same time, in October 2023 the authorities processed approximately 350 fewer applications from Ukraine than the previous year. In October 2023, almost 2,500 people applied for S status.
Even though the processing of asylum applications is more complex than that of status S applications, it is currently only partly understandable why the SEM is building up current cases again.
The registration of children in primary school is delayed
The fact that the migration authorities can no longer fully process the applications does not bode well for the refugees. In light of Russia’s latest attacks, more people from Ukraine in need of protection could once again seek shelter in other parts of Europe.
The slow response to the Ukrainian requests also raises eyebrows at the Swiss Refugee Aid (SFH): “For those affected, this means that they stay longer in the collective accommodation and only later are distributed among the cantons, where they are housed in host families. families could work, for example,” said SFH spokesperson Lionel Walter. Even the children’s school registration is delayed as a result. “We regret this situation, but understand that the SEM cannot work faster with the current resources.” However, refugee organizations are concerned about what will happen if a similar number of Ukrainian citizens suddenly seek protection from us again, as was the case in the spring of 2022.
Migratory pressure is unlikely to decrease in the short and medium term. Accommodation for asylum seekers has sometimes reached its limits in recent months.
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
