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Swiss government has refused protection status S to almost 2,500 people

The Confederation refused S status to 2,500 people
The Swiss government has refused S status to 2,500 people Keystone-SDA

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Swiss government has refused protection status S to almost 2,500 people. The reasons given for these refusals are that there is an alternative form of protection in another country, or that the people concerned were not entitled to this status.

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The clarifications required to examine the files “have become more complex and, in the meantime, more applications for protection are being rejected”, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-ATS. It was referring to a report in the SonntagsZeitung.

According to the newspaper, the SEM has revoked S status in 104 cases. The cases concerned fraudulent acquisition of temporary protection, offences, travel to Ukraine or residence in a third country.

+ How two years of war in Ukraine have marked Switzerland

At present, more than 66,000 people have S status, according to figures published on July 31 by the SEM on the X social network. Temporary protection has ended in 26,000 cases.

The government activated status S for people from Ukraine on March 12, 2022, following the outbreak of war by Russia. With this status, the people concerned quickly obtain a right of residence in Switzerland and can, in particular, start work. They do not have to go through an ordinary asylum procedure.

At present, only Ukrainians are entitled to this status. The government has extended this status until March 2025.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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