Homesickness is stronger than fear

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Many Ukrainians who come to Lea Meier (41) would like to leave Switzerland the next day. Meier and a colleague work at the Church Contact Point for Refugee Questions, a specialized agency in Bern that provides return assistance for refugees on behalf of the canton.

They are currently looking for backup. Significantly more Ukrainians have been coming to them for a few months than in 2022. While about 240 people returned to Ukraine from the Bern canton last year, there were 210 in the first four months of this year alone.

500 francs per adult

“They have usually already bought the tickets for the return journey and are well informed,” says Meier. As a rule, the Ukrainian women only come to the counseling center to receive the federally funded return assistance. It is CHF 500 per adult, CHF 250 per child – up to CHF 2,000 in total for a family. Ukrainians who receive social assistance benefits in Switzerland depend on this support, says Meier.

However, return adviser Andreas Ackermann (41) of Caritas assumes that many Ukrainians will leave Switzerland on their own. Caritas provides return assistance in the cantons of Zug, Schwyz and Obwalden. Ackermann has noticed a “constantly high demand” from Ukrainians for a year now. About six to seven consultations take place per week.

Back to caring for elderly parents

“People often give family reasons for wanting to go back,” says Ackermann. For example, because they have elderly parents that they want to take care of. Or because someone in the neighborhood is sick. Others said they were afraid of being left behind in Ukraine. “Some of the people also have a job on site or an apartment,” says the return counselor. “We also heard from conversations that we were very homesick and that it was difficult to integrate in Switzerland.”

Alderman Meier from the canton of Bern also reports: “Almost everyone is homesick.” Only recently a Ukrainian woman with two children came to her. Her father was drafted into the army because of the war and was not allowed to leave the country. “They wanted to see him because they miss him so much.”

Very often people would not be able to cope with suddenly being so dependent on state aid. “In Ukraine, they had a job and were independent.”

Return via Moscow

It’s rare, says Meier, that someone changes their mind and then doesn’t go. Because, for example, they find out the day before their departure that the situation in their place of residence has deteriorated again.

Ackermann also advised people to return to Russian-occupied areas. “They then have to book flights via Moscow,” he says. “We do not pretend to question the decision to return. The people who return know more about the looming dangers in Ukraine than we do.”

Source:Blick