Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Authorities react to need for more refugee accommodation

Ukrainian refugees queueing in Zurich
Refugees from Ukraine wait to be registered at the Federal Asylum Centre in Zurich in March © Keystone / Michael Buholzer

More refugees are arriving in Switzerland via the Balkans and other routes. The need for civil defence facilities and multi-purpose halls to accommodate them is therefore increasing.

The government assumes that 19,000 asylum applications will have been received by the end of the year and that an additional 80,000-85,000 people from Ukraine will be in Switzerland. The Federal Office for Migration (SEM) has reacted by temporarily re-opening closed shelters and opening new facilities, an SEM spokesperson told Swiss public radio, SRFExternal link on Friday.

More

In canton Aargau, in northern Switzerland, a shelter for refugees from Ukraine is scheduled to open on Monday. The head of the St Gallen migration office, Jürg Eberle, said the accommodation facilities in his canton were currently at around 75% capacity.

The cantonal directors of social affairs have an overview of vacant places in cantons and say the number has dropped from 9,000 at the beginning of summer to 7,000. Further centres are to be opened in the coming months, depending on demand.

External Content

Most Read
Swiss Abroad

Most Discussed

News

More than 1,100 Swiss cheeses on show in Lugano

More

Swiss Cheese Awards winners announced

This content was published on The three best Swiss cheeses were chosen on Friday in Lugano from over 1100 products submitted to an international jury.

Read more: Swiss Cheese Awards winners announced
Switzerland delivers equipment worth 5.6 million to Ukraine

More

Switzerland will deliver rubble removal equipment to Ukraine

This content was published on Thirty rubble removal machines and thirty fire-fighting pumps: this is the equipment that Switzerland will be delivering to the Ukraine in the next few days. The total value of these goods is 5.6 million Swiss francs.

Read more: Switzerland will deliver rubble removal equipment to Ukraine

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.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR