Bern deploys emergency shelters to cope with asylum-seekers
Canton Bern is preparing various emergency shelters due to the growing influx of asylum-seekers from Ukraine and other countries. Individuals will be transferred to underground shelters so that space can be made above ground for families.
The government predicts that Bern will need to accommodate an additional 1,200 asylum-seekers in the coming months, Keystone-SDA reported citing authorities.
+ Switzerland scrabbles for refugee housing after funds rejected
If the influx remains the same and the housing shortage tends to increase, the accommodation options will be exhausted by September or October. The emergency shelters are intended to help ensure that asylum and protection seekers can continue to be accommodated.
Currently, 42 shelters are in operation in Bern. Six of them are for people with status S, a one-year temporary residence permit granted only to Ukrainians, 22 for regular asylum-seekers and 14 for unaccompanied minors.
More
Why asylum in Switzerland remains elusive for Afghan refugees
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.