As of Monday 67,621 people had been granted special “S protection” status, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) said. This is an increase of 458 applications compared with the previous week.
The government developed S protection status in the mid-1990s in response to the Balkan wars. The mechanism is intended to enable the rapid admission of a group of refugees, who are thus freed from long asylum procedures, including individual examinations of why they fled their country.
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Switzerland triggers unprecedented special status for Ukrainian refugees
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Victims of the war in Ukraine get a special S permit which Switzerland has never used before.
So far, the S status has been terminated for 5,344 people, the SEM said. The cases of 1,704 people from Ukraine are also being examined to determine whether to terminate their S refugee status.
Switzerland is expecting nearly 50% more asylum applications this year compared with 2021, prompting the construction of new accommodation centres and the support of the army.
Refugee crisis
The estimate of refugee numbers for 2022 has increased significantly since a forecast in October of 19,000 asylum applications and 85,000 Ukrainians on S permits. The SEM said on October 20 that it expected to receive 22,000 refugees by the end of the year, 7,000 more than 2021.
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Huge hike in refugees stretches Swiss resources
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Switzerland expects nearly 50% more asylum applications this year compared to 2021.
Since February 24, more than 7.7 millionExternal link Ukrainians have fled their country for safety across Europe. This represents the largest European refugee crisis since the end of the Second World War.
In Europe, 4.5 million people from Ukraine have applied for official refugee protection status, the SEM wrote, based on data from the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the EU statistics agency Eurostat.
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How the Swiss asylum system works
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Switzerland has a long humanitarian tradition but who can apply for asylum in the country and how?
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Switzerland wants to examine cooperation with the EU in the defence sector
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The Federal Council wants to examine a security and defence partnership with the EU. Exploratory talks are to begin as soon as possible. Among other things, the partnership would be used for defence procurement.
Swiss trial shows organic farming is 85% as productive as conventional agriculture
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This is shown by the results of a globally unique open-air trial that has been running for 47 years in Therwil in the canton of Basel-Landschaft.
Nestlé fined by Swiss canton for illegally filtered water
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Nestlé has been fined CHF 500,000 in the canton of Vaud for the unauthorised use of activated carbon filters in the production of mineral water. The filters were used to produce Henniez water from 2008 to 2022.
Swiss government proposes restrictions on Ukrainian refugees
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Only those whose life and limb are at risk in Ukraine and who flee to Switzerland are to be granted S status in future. The remaining Ukrainian refugees should apply for asylum. This is what the Federal Council is proposing.
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The Fribourg parliament approved a sum of CHF6.4 million to renovate the ramparts, the walkway and the towers, as well as to replace the exterior lighting.
Swiss rental housing listings increase for the first time in three years
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For the first time in three years, the number of advertisements for rental accommodation is on the rise, but this does not dampen demand, quite the contrary. In Ticino, the average duration of an advertisement published on the main portals is 30 days.
Switzerland doing relatively well when it comes to child vaccination rates
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Progress in child immunisation has stalled. For decades, the number of children vaccinated against measles, polio and other diseases has risen. But since 2010, vaccination rates have stagnated in many countries, according to a study.
Swiss migration authorities struggling with ‘overlapping crises’
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The Swiss migration head says federal asylum centres are full and the situation is unprecedented since the Second World War.
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