Author
Conditions in federal reception centres
In the federal asylum centres, asylum applicants are usually housed in single-sex dorms, while families are accommodated together. Places to rest or isolate are mostly inexistent. Rooms contain at a minimum two or three beds (such rooms are usually reserved for couples and families) and up to several dozens of beds each, equipped with bunk beds. Asylum applicants are responsible for cleaning their rooms. Asylum applicants share common showers and toilet facilities, which are poorly equipped in terms of privacy.[1] In some cases, men and women share the same showers that they access during different times. The same happens with male and female unaccompanied minors, for whom the NCPT recommends providing at least specific time slots for the use of showers. In October 2021, a report with recommendations for the protection of asylum-seeking women and girls was mandated and published in the aftermath of a political postulate,[2] but in the experience of the SRC in 2024 federal asylum centres remained quite unsafe for women and girls.
The law stipulates that the special needs of children, families and other vulnerable persons are considered as far as possible in the allocation of beds,[3] but this provision is very general. In 2024, children in school age were generally able to attend school either within the federal centres or in regular schools, however due to the emergency situation, the time or frequency of schooling was sometimes reduced.[4] In addition, few leisure activities exist for children, especially under and above school age. The general tension that exists within the centres, due to the high psychological pressure asylum applicants are living under, the coexistence of persons with very different backgrounds, or even alcohol or drug issues that may occur in the centres, can make the situation very difficult for children, single women or other vulnerable persons.[5]
Asylum applicants are subject to body-search by security personnel every time they come back after going out of the centres. This applies even to children coming back from school, who are systematically searched in some centres, according to a NCPT report.[6] According to the NCPT, children and adults should be body-searched only in case of suspicion.[7] Security personnel is also authorised to seize certain goods when asylum applicants enter or go out of the centre.[8] The NCPT strongly criticised the practice of confiscating food items and non-alcoholic drinks, highlighting that it is unjustified and does not rely on any legal basis.[9]
Asylum applicants are required to participate in domestic work on request of the staff. Household tasks are shared between all asylum applicants according to a work breakdown schedule. Generally, maintenance is provided by third parties, namely for cleaning tasks (especially for toilets and showers), the cooking as well as security tasks.[10] Asylum applicants may voluntarily help to serve meals or help in the kitchen. They are not allowed to cook their own food in the federal centres (with a few exceptions regarding centres without processing facilities), but specific diets shall be respected according to internal regulation.[11]
The NCPT criticised the living conditions in temporary asylum centres in its report of April 2024, particularly in civil defence shelters. The reports confirm the Swiss Refugee Council’s concerns about these facilities. Conditions in the shelters are challenging: limited space, no natural light, no clear separation of sleeping, eating, and communal areas, lack of privacy, and inadequate ventilation, among other issues. Such circumstances increase the risk of conflict, yet violence prevention measures are notably lacking.[12] Additionally, alleged cases of violence reported to the NCPT have been poorly documented and insufficiently investigated.[13]
There is a chaplaincy service in every federal centre. Protestant and catholic chaplains spiritually accompany asylum applicants. They often play an important social role, as they provide an open ear to asylum applicants’ worries, and they sometimes call attention to problems in the centres. Between July 2016 and December 2018, a pilot project with Muslim chaplains was set up in the test centre in Zurich,[14] which was evaluated as very positive.[15] In January 2021, another pilot project started with Muslim chaplains in the federal asylum centres, after its prolongation[16] in January 2022. Due to the positive effects shown in the evaluation study,[17] the SEM is definitively introducing Muslim chaplaincy in the Federal Asylum Centres. In order to ensure the long-term financing of this service, an amendment to the Asylum Act would be required.[18]
Occupational programmes are proposed to asylum applicants from 16 years of age on, to give a structure to the day and thus facilitate cohabitation.[19] The occupational programmes must respond to a local or regional general interest of the town or municipality. They must not compete with the private sector. They include work in protection of nature and the environment or for social and charitable institutions. Examples are cutting trees or hedges, fixing rural pathways, cleaning public spaces. There is no right to participate in occupational programmes. In case of shortage of places in the occupational programmes, places are distributed according to the principle of rotation of the participants. An incentive allowance may be paid to the asylum applicant. This amount is very low and can therefore not be compared to a salary for a regular job. Thus, remuneration is limited to CHF 5 per hour, a maximum of CHF 30 per working day and a maximum of CHF 400 per month.[20] Persons staying in a special centre for uncooperative asylum applicants receive the incentive allowance in the form of non-cash benefits.
The accommodation crisis experienced during 2022 and 2023 had been resolved in 2024 and did not significantly affect reception conditions.[21]
Use of physical force and violence episodes in the federal asylum centres
During 2020, there was several cases in which violence escalated in the federal asylum centres. The media reported excessive use of physical force by security personnel.[22] For further information, see previous versions of this report.[23]
At its meeting on 25 January 2023, the Federal Council communicated its will to create transparent and comprehensive regulations for operating and guaranteeing the safety of asylum applicants and staff in federal asylum centres. Therefore, it opened a consultation process on an amendment to the Asylum Act.[24] In doing so, it relied in particular on the recommendations of former federal judge Niklaus Oberholzer, who had investigated violence episodes in the centres and highlighted several gaps in the legal bases, in particular concerning the delegation of coercive measures to private agencies, the use of physical force, of security rooms and of disciplinary measures.[25] The amended law was discussed in parliament, who came to an agreement in March 2025[26] and will probably enter in force in 2025.[27]
The SEM appointed seven specialised officers responsible for violence prevention and personal security (one in each asylum region and one at central level) who started their function on 1st of January 2024. They are supposed to provide regular quality controls and continuous on-the-job training of staff hired by the security companies.
A project launched by the SEM, aimed at allowing asylum applicants in the centres to anonymously report any incidents of violence they have been involved in or witnessed, was evaluated in February 2024. According to the report, while the initiative is promising, more should be done to increase its efficiency and transparency.[28]
Amnesty International documented new cases of alleged human rights violations in reception centres in a report published in October 2024.[29]
Conditions in cantonal-level facilities
As explained under the section on Types of Accommodation, reception conditions differ largely from one canton to another. The SRC does not follow the practice in each of the 26 cantons and can therefore only provide general information.
Most asylum applicants stay in collective centres, at least at first arrival in the canton. Generally speaking, asylum applicants benefit from less restrictive measures in the cantonal centres compared to the federal centres, as they usually can go out at their convenience, or cook for themselves as well as might have access to limited possibilities of daily structure like occupation programmes or language courses. Asylum applicants are however frequently confronted with the remoteness of reception centres, which impedes them to meet with family members, acquaintances or even consult a legal representative if they do not have financial resources. The capacity of the centres themselves is widely varying and so are the living conditions. Some general problems which can be observed in many places are the cleanliness of the centres, the missing privacy in dormitories and the noise which may prevent people from concentrating on education programmes.
Individual housing and private accommodation with host families provide more comfortable housing conditions. Cantonal authorities strive to house families in individual accommodations, even though this is not always possible. Additionally, the people are usually not allowed to choose their place of living and apartment. The authorities provide them apartments which are rented on the general housing market. This can be a reason for the apartments not to be in best shape, since the financing is usually limited by cantonal or communal regulations of social contributions for asylum applicants, which is supposed to be lower than those for Swiss people (exception: people with refugee status). Single men and women often have to share flats with other asylum applicants. They usually cannot choose who they want to live with as long as they are not financially independent and can find their own apartment.
[1] NCPT, Report on federal asylum centres 2019-2020, available in German here, 27.
[2] UNHCR and the SRC provided a summary of such recommendations: Anne-Laurence Graf, Eine Zusammenfassung der Empfehlungen zum Schutz von asylsuchenden Frauen und Mädchen im Anschluss an das Postulat Feri, October 2021, available in German (and French) here.
[3] Article 4(1) Ordinance of the FDJP on the management of federal reception centres in the field of asylum.
[4] UNHCR, UNHCR-Empfehlungen zur Unterbringung von Asylsuchenden in den Bundesasylzentren (BAZ), November 2023, available in German here, 25.
[5] Alcohol and drugs are strictly prohibited within the centres under Article 4(2) Ordinance of the FDJP on the management of federal reception centres in the field of asylum. However, this does not prevent some breaches of the regulation from happening in practice.
[6] NCPT, Report on federal asylum centres 2021-2022, available in German here, 61 (ch. 168). This constitutes a worsening of practice since 2020. In fact, according to the NCPT report on federal asylum centres 2019-2020, body-searching of children had been limited to cases of suspicion (the report is available in German here 20).
[7] NCPT, Report on federal asylum centres 2021-2022, available in German here, 62.
[8] According to Article 4 of the Ordinance of the FDJP, security personal is allowed to seize travel and identity documents, dangerous objects, assets, electronic devices that may disturb the peace, alcohol, drugs and food. Prohibited weapons and drugs are given to the police immediately.
[9] NCPT, Report on federal asylum centres 2021-2022, available in German here, 63.
[10] The SEM delegates the task of managing the operation of reception and processing centres to third parties under Article 24b (1) AsylA. Thus, the ORS Service AG (asylum regions Western Switzerland, French speaking Switzerland and Berne) and AOZ Asyl Organisation Zürich (asylum regions Eastern Switzerland, Ticino and Central Switzerland, Zurich) are responsible for running the centres. Security services at the lodges are provided by the companies Securitas AG (asylum regions French speaking Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Zurich, Ticino and Central Switzerland) and Protectas SA (asylum regions Western Switzerland and Zurich). Finally, the mandates of patrols operating in the vicinity of the centres have been awarded to three companies: Securitas AG (asylum regions French speaking Switzerland, Zurich) Protectas SA (asylum regions Western Switzerland and Berne) and Verkehrsüberwachung Schweiz (asylum regions Eastern Switzerland and Ticino and Central Switzerland).
[11] PLEX, Version 3.0, ch. 7.5, p. 22, available in French here. In 2020, the SRC has received some complaints from asylum seekers with medical conditions (pregnant woman, man with diabetes) saying that their food needs were not respected.
[12] The report of 10 April 2024 can be found here in German.
[13] Communication of the SRC, available here.
[14] SEM, Lancement d’un projet pilote d’aumônerie musulmane dans les centres fédéraux pour requérants d’asile, 4 July 2016, available in French (and German and Italian) here.
[15] SEM, Aumônerie musulmane au centre pilote de Zurich: le projet pilote donne de bons résultats, 16 February 2018, available in French (and German and Italian) here. The evaluation highlighted the relevance of spiritual support to asylum seekers of Muslim faith.
[16] SEM, Le SEM poursuit son service d’aumônerie musulmane dans les centres fédéraux d’asile, press release, 31 January 2022, available in French (and German and Italian) here.
[17] The evaluation was carried out by the Swiss Centre for Islam and Society of the University of Fribourg here, the study Muslimische Seelsorge in Bundesasylzentren Evaluation des Pilotprojekts zuhanden des Staatssekretariats für Migration is available in German here.
[18] SEM, L’aumônerie musulmane est introduite durablement dans les centres fédéraux d’asile, 31 January 2023, media release available in French (and German and Italian) here.
[19] Article 6a Ordinance of the FDJP.
[20] SEM, Plan d’exploitation Hébergement, Version 4, 1.01.2022, p. 34.
[21] For further information, see previous versions of this report: AIDA, Country Report: Switzerland, available here.
[22] See the Communication of 15 May 2020 of the Swiss Refuge Council on this matter, Violence au centre fédéral pour requérants d’asile de Bâle, available in French (and German) here; NCPT, Report on federal asylum centres 2019-2020, 22-24.
[23] See previous versions of this report: AIDA, Country Report: Switzerland, available here.
[24] SEM, Sécurité et exploitation des centres fédéraux pour requérants d’asile : le Conseil fédéral met en consultation des modifications de la législation, media release, 25 January 2023, available in French (and German and Italian) here. The SRC has submitted its opinion on the project of law. It is available, in French, here. See also the media release, available here. The legal draft of the Federal Council was criticised by the SRC for not sufficiently taking the rights and needs of asylum seekers into account (see media release of 17 September 2024, Mesures de sécurité dans les CFA : donner plus de poids aux droits humains).
[25] Following accusations by non-governmental organisations and the media, former federal judge Niklaus Oberholzer was commissioned by SEM to investigate whether violence is being systematically used in federal asylum centres. For more information see here.
[27] The final version can be found here.
[28] Communication of the SRC of 26 March 2024 in French.
[29] Communication of Amnesty International Switzerland of 22 October 2024 in German.