Emergency shelter prepared for asylum seekers
A sharp rise in the number of asylum seekers arriving in Switzerland has prompted the authorities to arrange new emergency shelter.
The Federal Migration Office announced on Thursday that an army shelter in central Switzerland would temporarily be made available to take up to 100 people in November.
Since June there has been an upsurge in the number of people fleeing conflict areas like Somalia, Eritrea, Iraq and Sri Lanka, which has created a shortage of accommodation in existing reception centres.
Emergency beds have been made available since September near various border cities where the asylum seekers can be registered. The idea is to give the different cantons time to expand their own facilities.
The Bern cantonal authorities said on Thursday that the canton's 18 transit centres were full, and said they would have to demand that local authorities put bunkers at their disposal.
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