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.
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.
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Swiss asylum requests expected to remain high in 2023
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The head of the State Secretariat for Migration says that the economic consequences of the Ukraine war are expected to keep asylum requests high.
Switzerland records 43% surge in asylum claims in first half of 2023
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