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The federal accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees in Switzerland has reached its capacity, and there are almost no free beds left, as the number of asylum seekers applying for asylum in the country remains high.
In this regard, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) claims that it is constantly opening new accommodations so that all asylum seekers can be accepted, accommodated, and taken care of, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“Around 800 people per week apply for asylum in Switzerland. In the asylum regions of western and north-western Switzerland in particular, this constant influx of new asylum seekers is leading to capacity bottlenecks in terms of accommodation and care,” reads a statement issued by the Swiss Federal Council in this regard.
According to the Swiss Council, the capacity limit has almost been reached in the remaining asylum regions, such as Bern, Ticino-Central Switzerland, Zurich, and Eastern Switzerland.
The situation remains very tense even though more beds and accommodation have been made available and additional staff have been recruited in all regions.
In addition, the Swiss army has about 20 operational facilities throughout Switzerland that offer accommodation to refugees. At the same time, in recent weeks, the multi-purpose halls in Bure, Thun, and Chamblon have been activated to accommodate refugees.
As the Swiss Council explains, asylum seekers spend up to 140 days in the federal asylum centres (BAZ) during the accelerated asylum procedure.
“In view of the critical housing situation, it was decided on the basis of the “key values of the joint emergency planning by the Confederation and the cantons in the area of asylum” and the Asylum Act to transfer people with an expulsion order to the cantons before the 140 days had expired,” the statement reads.
The measure to transfer people with an expulsion order will be implemented from Thursday, October 27, 2022.
As for the second step, one week later, persons whose asylum procedures have not yet been completed will leave the cantons prematurely. Exempt will be persons in the Dublin procedure, those from Afghanistan, unaccompanied minors seeking asylum, or those from a country of origin with a low level of protection.
This means that the cantons will have to prepare to temporarily accept up to 1,000 asylum seekers per week instead of the previous 500. As a result, these persons will be distributed among the cantons in proportion to the population. Thanks to this measure, BAZ can accept and accommodate newly arrived asylum seekers and immediately start the necessary procedural steps.
Moreover, recent data provided by SEM has revealed that the number of new applications will be at least 22,000 by the end of 2022.
Such data also show that, compared to a year ago, the estimated number is about 7,000 more applications.