How long does solidarity last? The war in Ukraine started seven months ago and people from the country have been seeking refuge in Switzerland ever since. Christine Schraner Burgener (59), head of the State Secretariat for Migration, strikes dramatic notes. “We are in the biggest refugee crisis since World War II,” she told Blick on Saturday.
She does not rule out that by the end of the year “80,000 to 120,000 people seeking protection” from Ukraine will be with us. There are also asylum seekers from other crisis regions and in October this number will increase by another 3,000.
Shortly after the start of the war, Asylum Minister Karin Keller-Sutter (58) quickly and unbureaucratically activated the protection status S, which spares Ukrainians the usual gauntlet of asylum procedures.
SUVs with Ukrainian license plates
But with the Russian aggression, the attack increased, and with it the cost to the state. Many Swiss host families initially assumed three months, but the reality turned out to be much more bitter, the war continues to this day. In September, the state government had to apply to parliament for an additional loan of CHF 1.2 billion for the asylum system.
Which means that the political pressure on the prevailing practice is increasing. Reports about enforcement problems are piling up; in the communities and cantons, the watering can principle is criticized, which enables social benefits for the financially wealthy.
Photos of ultra-expensive sports cars and SUVs with Ukrainian license plates are circulating on Internet forums, and questions have been raised as to whether the general public should also pay bonuses and language courses for such refugees. In the last session, the ranks of the SVP even tried to abolish the protection status, but failed miserably.
Aren’t Syrians also victims of Putin?
The unequal treatment of asylum seekers of different origin is criticized from the left. Why is the Afghan family denied what their Ukrainian neighbors get? And aren’t Syrians also victims of Vladimir Putin because of the carpet bombing of their country by Russian Su-34 fighter jets?
All these questions are now reaching the Federal Parliament. The auditors of the National Council have launched an investigation into the current asylum regime – according to which the subcommittee of the GPK in charge of the Ministry of Justice wants to sue the federal asylum authorities.
The chairman of the subcommittee, the Zurich SVP National Councilor Alfred Heer (61) confirms the information provided by SonntagsBlick: “On Monday we will be informed about the worrying development in the number of asylum seekers, which has long been foreseen, and the associated difficulties of the State Secretary of the SEM leave”, he says when asked. According to Heer, “we will also ask what measures the Federal Council is taking to meet this challenge. There is an emergency and the costs are exploding.”
Social assistance is the biggest cost factor
When asked, a spokesperson for the Secretariat of State for Migration (SEM) emphasized that “the admission process, housing and care as well as coordination and cooperation between the federal government, cantons and municipalities can be described as established and functioning in view of the historical challenge”.
According to the SEM, most of the additional expenses are social assistance costs, which amount to CHF 1,557 per month per person with protection status S. The integration measures, which cost CHF 250 per month and person, as well as the administrative costs of CHF 552 per application, consume additional resources. Due to the high numbers, additional costs of approximately CHF 72 million would also be estimated in the regular asylum area.
It is unclear when the GPK will finalize its report. Parallel to the auditors, the Protection Status S evaluation group, which Federal Councilor Keller-Sutter himself set up, is also working under high pressure.
What both agencies do not know is how long this war in Ukraine will last.