23% more asylum applications in 2023
30,223 people applied for asylum in Switzerland in 2023. This is 23.3% more than in the previous year. The Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) also expects around 30,000 asylum applications in 2024, as announced on Thursday.
there were 5,712 more asylum applications in 2023 than in 2022. The SEM attributes the increase to three main factors. The number of Turkish asylum seekers doubled across Europe. The number of asylum applications from Turks in Switzerland rose in step with this by 2,000.
The SEM also recorded a significant but less pronounced increase in Moroccan and Algerian asylum seekers, who mostly leave their home country for economic reasons.
And in July, Switzerland changed its asylum policy towards Afghan girls and women. As a result, 1,800 temporarily admitted women submitted a new application for asylum. The most important country of origin was once again Afghanistan, followed by Turkey, Eritrea, Algeria and Morocco.
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The SEM dealt with 26,667 asylum applications in the first instance. 5,991 people were granted asylum, which corresponds to a recognition rate of 25.7%. The protection rate was 54.4%compared to 59% in 2022. This includes provisional admission and the granting of asylum. Protection status S for refugees from Ukraine was applied for by 23,012 people. It was granted in 18,375 cases, rejected in 932. A further 13,512 people had their status terminated, while 3,260 were under review for termination. A total of 66,083 refugees had protection status at the end of the year.
Translated from German by DeepL/amva
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