Overview of the main changes since the previous report update

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Swiss Refugee Council Visit Website

The report was last updated in June 2023.

International protection

Asylum procedure

• Key asylum statistics: In 2023, 30,223 persons asked for asylum in Switzerland, which is an increase of over 20% compared to 2022. The most important countries of origin were Afghanistan, Turkey, Eritrea, Algeria, and Morocco. More than 10% of new asylum applicants were unaccompanied minors. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) dealt with 26’667 asylum applications in the first instance. The asylum rate was 39.3%, the protection rate of the applications dealt with in merit was 78.4%. The number of pending cases at first instance increased up to 15,567. In addition, in 2023 23,012 persons from Ukraine applied for temporary protection (Status S) in Switzerland; 18,375 were granted this status.[1]
• Asylum procedures: Due to continuously high numbers of asylum applications, the SEM and the legal protection actors had to increase their personnel capacities. The SEM also introduced several measures to accelerate the asylum procedure for certain categories of persons. These include persons from countries of origin with a low protection rate (Maghreb countries), asylum seekers from Afghanistan, and unaccompanied minors.
• Dublin transfers: Despite the fact that Italy announced not to accept any Dublin transfers until further notice, Switzerland could transfer three times as many asylum seekers in the Dublin out-procedure than in-procedures.
• Afghan women and girls: The SEM followed the EUAA recommendation and stated that women and girls from Afghanistan can be regarded as refugees; however, there will still be an individual examination of each claim. The Federal Administrative Court supported this practice.

Reception conditions

• Reception facilities: Due to continuously high numbers of asylum applications and parallel applications for temporary protection, reception facilities continued to be under pressure during 2023 and the beginning of 2024, on the federal as well as the cantonal level. Additional solutions needed to be found. As the parliament denied the application by the government for the financing of additional reception places in containers in the summer of 2023, the SEM is continuously searching for additional reception facilities in collaboration with the army and the cantons. These solutions include civil protection bunkers. The National Commission for the Prevention of Torture (NCPT) conducted visits in several centres and made recommendations.[2] The shortage of personnel to support asylum seekers living in the centres has posed an additional challenge.

Detention of asylum seekers

• Grounds of detention: Detention continues to be applied by the competent cantonal authorities in the different constellations foreseen by law. The Federal Court reminded the authorities to respect the prerequisites of the Dublin III Regulation in detention cases in the Dublin procedure.[3]

Content of international protection

• Status F: Since the implementation of temporary protection (Status S) for persons fleeing Ukraine, there has been a debate about differential treatment of protection seekers from different countries due to their different legal statuses. An evaluation group mandated by the Federal Department of Police and Justice is conducting enquiries regarding the status of temporary admission (Status F) and Status S. The Swiss Refugee Council has continued to call for a uniform humanitarian status replacing both Status F and S to ensure equality of treatment for protection seekers fleeing situations of war.[4]
• Family reunification: The ECtHR ruled that the financial independence criterion for family reunification for temporarily admitted refugees in Switzerland was too strict. The individual circumstances of refugees must be given greater consideration.[5]

Status S

The information given hereafter constitute a short summary of the 2023 Report on Status S, for further information, see Annex on Status S.

Status S procedure

• Extension of temporary protection: In November 2023, the Federal Council decided not to end the temporary protection status before 4 March 2025, as long as the situation in Ukraine does not change fundamentally until then. Nevertheless, the SEM as prepared a concept for the future lifting of the Status S (which will have to be adapted according to the current situation at the moment of lifting).
• Registration: Status S procedures are all conducted in the Federal asylum centre in Berne (no longer in the other regions, as in the first phase of the war).

Content of status S

• Access to the labour market: Several measures have been announced to strengthen the labour market integration for persons with Status S.

[1] SEM, press release of 15 February 2024, available in German (and French and Italian) at: https://bit.ly/3VTRULw.

[2] NKVF, April and December 2023, available in German (and French and Italian) at: https://bit.ly/3RQAtKB.

[3] TF, 2C_142/2023, 3 August 2023.

[4] Swiss Refugee Council, Protection humanitaire au lieu de l’admission provisoire et du statut S, position paper of December 2023, available in French at : http://bit.ly/4cln8lG.

[5] ECtHR, B.F. and Others v. Switzerland, no. 13258/18, 4 July 2023.