Ukrainians are only eligible for S status if they live in an occupied or violent area
Keystone / Michael Buholzer
Following a tightening of the Swiss refugee system in November, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) has refused 104 S-status protection requests from Ukrainians with most applicants sent back home.
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Since November 1, Switzerland has limited the special protection status to people whose last place of residence is in one of the Ukrainian regions occupied by Russian troops or combat zones.
The law change was made in response to a demand from parliament that a distinction should be made between regions of Ukraine to which return is considered reasonable or unreasonable.
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Parliament decided that returning refugees to western regions of Ukraine is considered generally reasonable.
Around 600 people were affected by this change in practice by the end of February, according to SEM. These are people who submitted their applications after November 1 and those whose applications had not yet been decided by that time.
In eight of the 104 rejection cases, temporary admission was subsequently granted because a return to Ukraine was not possible, permissible, or reasonable.
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“Anyone who receives a negative decision must leave Switzerland,” SEM’s Magdalena Rast told Swiss public broadcaster SRF. Critics fear that those affected would then apply for asylum, resulting in longer procedures that could threaten to overwhelm the asylum system.
Leaving for another country
It turns out that this fear was unfounded. In response to an inquiry from SRF, the SEM explained that the number of asylum applications following a deportation order was zero up to the end of February.
However, federal figures also show that more than half of the affected people withdrew their applications before being rejected or left Switzerland – presumably for another European country.
“Some of the withdrawals are likely due to the SEM engaging in dialogue with asylum seekers,” said Rast. Those affected are being told that they have little chance of receiving S status protection. “Many asylum seekers then probably realize the futility of their application and therefore withdraw it,” Rast added. Or they leave without notifying the authorities.
The SEM says it does not record how many Ukrainians actually leave the country. “We assume they travel on to another European country. In any case, we have no indication that they are remaining in Switzerland,” said Rast.
The new practice is therefore proving effective and relieving Switzerland of the burden of accepting refugees from Ukraine. However, this is less because returning to Ukraine is safe, but rather because those affected are seeking refuge in other European countries. A shift is taking place from Switzerland to other countries.
A particularly large number of applications from the Transcarpathian region were supported by forged identity documents. The SEM is now seeing a particularly sharp decline in applications from this region – approximately 50%.
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Swiss government updates S status rules for Ukrainian refugees
Adapted from German by AI/mga
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