The canton of Aargau can no longer cope with the refugee situation in normal operation – there is simply a lack of accommodation. That is why Aargau feels compelled to declare an emergency.
This gives the canton new possibilities for finding reception places for refugees. The focus is on the use of municipal underground protection structures such as first aid stations. According to the emergency regulation of the government council, municipalities can be obliged to provide such facilities for the reception of refugees. The first three plants are commissioned in Aarau, Birmenstorf and Lenzburg; this means that a total of 560 additional places to stay can be created.
It will be confiscated in case of emergency
Should these capacities become exhausted at any time, municipalities and private owners could, in extreme cases, be obliged by confiscation order to also make other suitable premises available.
The Council of Government will, however, handle this possibility with caution and with due observance of proportionality. The emergency ordinance also makes it possible to call in civil protection to provide support for care in the accommodations.
Every day 20 new Ukrainians
The background to the emergency regulation is the current situation in the asylum and refugee system. Last year, more than 90,000 people fled to Switzerland, including more than 70,000 Ukrainians. These are transferred to the cantons after a certain time.
According to the projections of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), a total of about 20 people seeking protection from Ukraine and other people from the asylum sector could be allocated in the coming weeks – just for Aargau, and that per day.
Other accommodations are rented
The canton of Aargau has created about 1,000 additional places in cantonal accommodation in recent months. According to the coalition agreement, the currently 650 reserve places in municipal and cantonal housing and the places available with host families in the canton will last until the end of February 2023. Measures are therefore necessary to quickly create extra capacity.
The cantonal social service will rent more accommodation in the coming months, for example apartment buildings, former hotels and empty nursing homes. Also the
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, communities have been trying to create more accommodation and move into suitable housing to meet their entry requirements.
Fortunately, there is still great solidarity among the population with the refugees from Ukraine, as evidenced by the high number of private accommodations: 43 percent of Ukrainians live in private homes.
Lucerne has been in a state of emergency since November
Aargau is not the only canton with this problem. The Lucerne Government Council had already declared a state of emergency for the entire asylum and refugee area of the canton of Lucerne in November 2022. Social director Guido Graf described the problem in Blick: “We currently have about 6,400 refugees in the canton of Lucerne, 65 percent more than last year.” However, he only has a vacancy rate of 1 percent and a cantonal unemployment rate of 1.3 percent.
“That means: I have an extra village, but no apartments and can’t find caretakers for the people. That’s why we prepare civil protection systems in Dagmersellen, Willisau and Lucerne in case of an emergency.” (sf)