Migration would have to be defined as a European problem

There would need to be quotas on how migrants are to be distributed. And efficient mechanisms for repatriation would be needed. An analysis by SRF correspondent Peter Voegeli.

When 566 people drowned off Lampedusa ten years ago, Europe was horrified. Horrified, because it could no longer look away. Because until that October 2013, Europe did not respond to Italy's calls for help.

The Dublin Agreement had provided most European countries with a convenient way of dealing with the migration problem: refugees who entered via a safe third country could be sent back to the country of first reception. This meant that Greece and Italy were responsible, while in Germany, surrounded by safe third countries, refugees literally had to fall from the sky in order for Berlin to be legally responsible for these people.

Claire Micallef

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This was followed by the great refugee crisis of 2015/16. German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the borders in a grand humanitarian gesture, but failed to find a lasting solution. Her policies divided the EU into East and West and boosted Brexit supporters in the UK, leading some observers to believe that Germany's refugee policy helped the Brexit win a razor-thin majority. Merkel imposed quotas on EU member states, a key to how migrants should be distributed. The idea was the right one, but it never worked in practice.

Finally, Europe agreed to use Turkish President Erdogan as a bouncer. Europe pays billions of euros for Turkey to take in millions of refugees. The EU struck a similar deal with Tunisia this summer, but Tunis is still letting the migrants move on.

Italy, too, has done too little: the migration problem has so far served mainly as an election campaign ploy. There are still too few reception centres; unsustainable conditions on Lampedusa are good leverage for Rome.

Then came Covid and the Ukraine war, and the migration problem faded into the background. But all the experts already predicted last winter what is happening now on Lampedusa.

When the Dublin Treaty was signed in 1990, the states involved were not aware of the consequences. In the meantime, Dublin III is in force, but it would need reform.

As in the case of climate change, there is too little recognition that, above all a joint, international effort is needed. The EU member states should define migration as a European problem. Those who cross the Greek or Italian border do not come to Greece or Italy, but to the EU. Accordingly, quotas would be needed according to which asylum seekers are distributed among all member states. And there would also need to be efficient mechanisms for repatriation. Currently, only about 5% of repatriations are actually carried out.

Increasing influx of refugees

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Switzerland boasts of a long humanitarian tradition and in fact deals with relatively more asylum requests than other European countries, given the size of the population.

Even if few asylum seekers receive official refugee status many are granted different kinds of temporary permits allowing them to stay.

With such a permit they might get help with living costs and finding a job, but the road to integration is a long one. In this “Switzerland Explained” video, find out how the asylum process works and whatconditions for asylum-seekersin Switzerland are like.

Asylum in Switzerland

Most of the people landing on Lampedusa are from West Africa. So far, they have hardly made any applications for asylum in Switzerland.

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What it's about: Last week, 5000 refugees arrived on Lampedusa within 24 hours - more people than the island has inhabitants. Most of the refugees are taken to the Italian mainland, many continue their journey north. In Switzerland, the asylum situation is tense, but for different reasons.

No "Lampedusa effect": The refugees from Lampedusa probably don't plan on traveling to Switzerland in large numbers. Since the beginning of the year, 25,000 refugees from Guinea and the Ivory Coast have reached Lampedusa. In the same period, Switzerland received about 350 asylum applications from people from these countries. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) explains that people from West Africa have so far not necessarily chosen Switzerland as their country of destination.

Rising asylum figures: Nevertheless, the number of asylum applications is currently rising sharply. In August, 3001 asylum applications were registered, 38% more than in July - and 47% more than in August 2022. The border guard also reports significantly more irregular border crossings at the southern border: the number increased from 1486 (July) to 2873 (August). The number of people in the asylum process also increased by 740 people in August.

Balkan route: The most important countries of origin for asylum seekers in Switzerland are Turkey and Afghanistan. The majority of those affected travel to Switzerland via the Balkan route. Because many were stranded en route during the Corona pandemic, the SEM sees a "catch-up effect". The pressure to leave or travel on from countries like Turkey is very high, according to the SEM. The Balkan route with subsequent entry from Italy therefore remains more important for Switzerland than the route from Tunisia and Libya via the central Mediterranean.

Federal asylum centres: In the first phase, the federal government is responsible for accommodating asylum seekers. According to the SEM, the federal asylum centres are currently operating at 76% of capacity. There is a reserve of 2400 beds. The cantons, which are responsible for accommodating asylum seekers in the second phase, report just under 7600 free places, according to the conference of social directors.

Additional places: Because the federal government expects numbers to rise in the coming weeks, it wants to find 1800 additional accommodation places in the cantons. Currently, however, only 590 additional places have been confirmed. The SEM says it is still looking into the matter. However, 1800 additional places are no longer realistic in the short term.

Forecast: In the most likely scenario, the SEM expects a total of 28,000 asylum applications by the end of the year (excluding Status S for people from Ukraine). This corresponds to an average of about 2660 applications per month. "At the moment, we assume that we can just about make ends meet", says SEM spokesman Reto Kormann about the accommodation situation. According to the SEM, a scenario with up to 40,000 applications is somewhat less likely. Last year, 24,511 asylum applications were filed in Switzerland.

Refugees on Lampedusa

What do you think of our asylum system?

Why asylum in Switzerland remains elusive for Afghan refugees

Despite the deteriorating human rights situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, Swiss authorities continue to turn away the vast majority of Afghans seeking protection – a policy in sharp contrast to the welcome the country has offered to Ukrainian refugees.

Aresu Rabbani reckons she has helped more than 1,000 Afghans apply for a Swiss humanitarian visa since the Taliban took Kabul in August 2021. Most of them had managed to cross the border into Iran or Pakistan – with a humanitarian visa, they would be able to come to Switzerland safely and legally and apply for asylum.

Rabbani, who fled Afghanistan in 2008 after her father was jailed by the Taliban, did everything she could to improve their chances of a positive response – even going so far as to translate the visa application tool into Farsi.

“I tried to help them day and night,” says the Zurich resident, “because I know what it means to be in this situation.” Despite her efforts, not a single applicant she helped ever got a visa from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). This includes her cousin in Herat, whose house was ransacked by Taliban militants. Her cousin had been a women’s rights advocate, which made her a target of the extremist group.

“We sent all the documents that would support her application but we never got a response,” says Rabbani, who is a volunteer with the asylum support service AsyLex. Rabbani made several unsuccessful attempts to follow up with the Swiss authorities before finally giving up. Her cousin remains in Iran with her two young children.

The case of Afghanistan clearly shows a “lack of political will in Switzerland” to offer international protection, the Swiss Red Cross concluded in a 2021 report. Whereas the outbreak of civil war in Syria in 2011 eventually prompted the government to accept over 5,000 refugees, so far it has resisted calls to facilitate entry for Afghans. Out of 1,759 applications for a humanitarian visa made by Afghans in 2022, just 98 were granted by the SEM – an acceptance rate of 5.5%. Meanwhile, just 13% of Afghan asylum-seekers in Switzerland got refugee status, far below the European average of 46% (European Union states plus Norway and Switzerland).

With the Taliban systematically rolling back the rights of women and girls and hunting down people who worked for western allies or the previous regime, the demand for protection among Afghans is high. From August 2021 to the end of March 2023, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) over 1.6 million have fled to neighbouring countries – primarily Iran and Pakistan. Afghans were the second-largest group of asylum-seekers in Europe in 2022, accounting for roughly 129,000 applications.

Rabbani wanted to throw a lifeline to Afghans hoping to reach safety by showing them how to apply for a humanitarian visa. Since 2013, Switzerland has made it possible to get a visa on humanitarian grounds at a Swiss embassy or consulate – a pathway to protection that EU countries  currently do not provide.

Applicants have to show “an immediate, specific and serious threat to life and limb” – for Afghans, the threat must be “individual and specific”, so belonging to a risk group (such as women and girls) is not enough. They must also have a “close and current connection to Switzerland”, such as relatives or previous residence in the country. The SEM assesses if each case fulfills these criteria according to the law, spokesperson Samuel Wyss tells SWI swissinfo.ch in an email. But refugee aid groups say the requirements are too restrictive.

“We would welcome greater consideration […] of the difficulties applicants face, for example, in obtaining valid documents from their home country,” says Martin Rechlin, a spokesperson for UNHCR Switzerland.

These include not just proof of identity or passports but also proof of persecution. To show her life was in danger, Rabbani’s cousin submitted a threatening letter she’d received from the Taliban. But according to the Red Cross, such letters are no longer considered as evidence, as they are easily forged. Wyss writes that “the value of evidence [provided] depends on various factors, such as its timeliness, inalterability and whether it can be linked to the person in question.” 

If the SEM is looking for more graphic evidence of someone being a direct target, that is simply unrealistic, says Rabbani: “If you have photos or videos of what happened to you, then you’re probably already dead.”

Aresu Rabbani: ‘I’ve lived it in my skin’

Aresu Rabbani fled her hometown of Herat in Afghanistan in 2008 together with her mother and three of her siblings. Her father was in jail, put there by the Taliban. Over several months, Rabbani and her family travelled through Iran, Turkey and finally Greece. Even on foot, the 12-year-old girl carried her baby brother in her arms for much of the journey.

The memories of that experience remain painful for Rabbani, who says she’s tried hard to forget. They came flooding back when the Taliban regained power in August 2021. She knew exactly the fears people in her homeland were facing: “I’ve lived it in my skin,” she says.

After years on temporary permits in Switzerland, Rabbani gained citizenship in 2016. Today she is studying to be a midwife and is a member of the Afghan Women’s Association Switzerland. As a volunteer with the asylum support service AsyLex, she is helping hundreds of Afghans with applications for a B permit or family reunification.

Since Switzerland closed its Kabul embassy in August 2021, Afghans also first have to leave the country to submit their request at a Swiss representation abroad – a feat that appears to be working against them.

“Experience has shown that often the decisive factor for refusal [of a humanitarian visa] is the fact that Afghans are in a third country in which they are not in immediate danger at the time of application,” says Wyss.

For many refugees, however, safety in places that are struggling to cope with the surge in arrivals is not a given. Although the UNHCR commends Iran for welcoming fleeing Afghans, the country already hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world. In recent months, Pakistan, which has not ratified the UN Refugee Convention, has reportedly deported or detained Afghans for illegal entry.

With the chances of obtaining humanitarian visas so slim, Rabbani is now helping those who have reached Switzerland but don’t have refugee status. Just over half of 4,138 Afghan asylum-seekers last year received temporary admission, a status given to people who don’t meet the criteria for asylum but cannot be expulsed, often because of conflict in their homeland. While the SEM considers the “protection rate” (refugee status plus temporary admission) to be 72% for Afghans, the one-year renewable permit F for temporarily admitted persons has long been criticised by advocacy groups.

“Temporary admission is problematic in the eyes of the Swiss Refugee Council,” says Lionel Walter, a spokesperson for the refugee umbrella organisation. “It limits the rights of people who in reality often end up staying permanently in Switzerland.” The temporary nature of the permit is a deterrent for potential employers. Plus, unlike recognised refugees, people with a F permit face restrictions on travel outside Switzerland, social assistance and family reunification.

Rabbani is helping these Afghans get a B permit (which they can request after five years on a F permit) entitling them to the same rights as refugees. For Rabbani, who after years of living on temporary permits gained Swiss citizenship in 2016, these efforts hit close to home: her mother, Mahjan Rabbani, has had a F permit since her arrival in 2008. Life for her has been on hold ever since.

“I may be physically safe in Switzerland but I feel like a prisoner,” she says, adding that being temporarily admitted means “I am never sure when or if I will be able to stay here permanently.” This uncertainty, together with her inability to get a job, put down roots, or even move cantons to be closer to her children, has taken a toll on Rabbani, who now suffers from anxiety and depression.

The plight facing F-permit holders has come into sharper focus since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. So far over 76,000 people fleeing the war have obtained a special protection status (S), which means they can skip the regular asylum procedure and access jobs, accommodation, and support services right away. A group of experts evaluating the S permit for the justice department acknowledged there was now an inequality in legal treatment between Ukrainians and asylum-seekers of other nationalities, a fact Walter calls “striking”.

“Many refugees arriving in Switzerland from countries other than Ukraine are also fleeing fighting and bombs,” he says. “An inequality of rights with S status holders is therefore not justified.”

Switzerland’s policy is also out of step with the EU, with which it has harmonised parts of its asylum system. People fleeing conflict who don’t get asylum in the EU usually receive subsidiary protection, which comes with the same rights as refugee status. Motions are currently before the Swiss parliament to scrap the F permit in favour of a status similar to subsidiary protection, an idea the UNHCR has long supported. But the government has recommended rejecting them, arguing plans are underway to remove some F-permit restrictions, including on travel and moving cantons.

In the EU, signs are also emerging of a policy shift that could see more Afghans receive refugee status. The EU Asylum Agency (EUAA) wrote in January that Afghan women and girls “are in general at risk of persecution” and therefore eligible for refugee status. The EUAA conclusion is non-binding on states. But Denmark and Sweden have begun granting asylum to all women and girl applicants from Afghanistan.

‘Not the right time’ to accept more refugees

Recently one member of the government gave a small indication that Switzerland may be willing to do more for Afghans. The new justice minister, Elisabeth Baume-Schneider of the Social Democrats, said in February she wants Switzerland to accept more refugees from crisis regions like Syria and Afghanistan as part of its resettlement programme with the UNHCR. Baume-Schneider’s predecessor, Karin Keller-Sutter, had rejected calls to accept thousands more Afghans in the aftermath of the Taliban’s return. In 2022, Switzerland accepted 95 Afghans from Turkey for resettlement – among the largest contingents for a European country, though less than the 255 Afghans Sweden accepted.

But the cantons, which are implementing partners in the resettlement programme, stand in Baume-Schneider’s way. Asylum requests are on the rise, they argue, and with a large contingent of Ukrainian refugees in the country, it is “not the right time” to increase resettlement numbers, they reportedly told the minister.

In Switzerland, any talk of a more generous refugee policy may have to wait until after the federal elections this autumn. Migration is set to be a major issue in the campaign, and politicians are likely to be careful about suggesting any changes that could bump up the numbers of refugees or asylum-seekers. But Mahjan Rabbani remains optimistic, even if her previous B permit requests have all been rejected.

“I hold on to the hope that one day things will get better – that I will be able to return to my homeland without fear,” she says, “or that I will find a sense of belonging and security in Switzerland.”

This article was amended on March 23 to include reference to the "protection rate" for Afghans as calculated by the State Secretariat for Migration.

Situation for Afghan refugees

'Understanding for the people of Chiasso'

Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider comments on the situation at the federal asylum centre and proposes solutions

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"I have great sympathy for the population. Sometimes it is difficult to live near these centres, especially when - at certain times of the year - there is a sharp increase in the number of people staying in the centres and when the profile of the people accommodated is problematic." Speaking at the microphones of RSI is Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider. The holder of the asylum dossier responded to some of the letters received, addressing the problems caused by some of the centre's guests. She adds: "We know that it is only a small proportion of them who create problems. Problems that can, however, cause concern and aggravate the situation."

Baume-Schneider explains that she has discussed the issue with the director of the Ticino Department of Institutions, Norman Gobbi. In the interview, she mentions a number of measures to improve the situation: the possibility of intervening with administrative measures against problematic persons, but also a relocation of recalcitrant migrants to the designated centre in Verrière in the Canton of Neuchâtel. The minister acknowledges that "Ticino is doing its part. The canton belongs to the same region as central Switzerland and if there are going to be a lot of arrivals then we have to ask ourselves whether we need more solidarity within this region. By this I don't mean that there will necessarily be displacements'.

Situation in Chiasso

The first young asylum seekers move into Windisch

As of Monday, underage asylum seekers will live in the new accommodation in Windisch. The previous tenants had to vacate their flats because of this. Now it is clear: the situation in the municipality has calmed down. And the canton has changed its approach in the search for accommodation.

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The uproar: The media outcry was great at the end of February when the Aargau municipality of Windisch announced that 49 people would have to leave their homes for asylum accommodation. The canton wanted to build accommodation with 100 places in three houses. The owner had given notice to the tenants at the end of June. The municipality of Windisch was shocked. Parties from the left to the right criticised the canton's action.

After a few days, the responsible government councillor Jean-Pierre Gallati (Swiss People’s Party) apologised and admitted mistakes. Wrong assumptions had been made and too little thought had been given to the residents. Speaking to SRF, Gallati said: "We have produced an operational accident in Windisch, for which I would like to apologise to the tenants affected." However, the canton stood by its approach as it would really need the houses as accommodation for underage asylum seekers.

However, the landlord and the canton emphasised that the notices had been given because of a planned new building. The property would be demolished. The canton had only applied for interim use as asylum accommodation after the notices of termination, until the construction project would be ready.

How it continued: Most of the tenants have found new flats in the meantime, says Pia Maria Brugger, head of the cantonal social services. Currently, there are four parties still living in flats in one of the houses. According to Brugger, they, too, will be moving out.

Some of the tenants had publicly resisted in spring, criticising the canton and the owner. After the moves, it now seems to have become quiet. This is also the opinion of commune president Heidi Ammon.

The move-in: On Monday, the first two young people move into Windisch. Others would follow quickly, the head of social services says and adds that the federal government informs the canton about the allocations at very short notice. Many of the minors in the Aargau shelters come from Afghanistan, some from Syria or Iran.

The young people are looked after by a team of 15 people. This includes counsellors and social education workers. They are also on duty in the evenings and at weekends. At night, employees of an external company are on site.

Accommodation: The young people are mainly accommodated in studio flats. As a rule, they live in pairs or threes. There is a communal kitchen and dining area in the accommodation. In addition, there is a common room and a study room with a computer for school work.

In the first months, learning German is most important, says Pia Maria Brugger. After three to six months, the young people attend compulsory school. For those over 16, there are other courses, including vocational apprenticeships.

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The conclusion: the Windisch municipal council would act in this way again and go public, says municipal president Heidi Ammon. She continues, that after discussions, the cooperation with the canton is now also going well and that the canton is now apparently more careful in its dealings with the municipalities on the asylum issue.

Head of Social Services Brugger has also learned lessons from the case: in her opinion, the canton must seek contact with the municipalities earlier. Also, houses that are still inhabited are no longer being examined as possible asylum accommodation. The rental contract in Windisch runs for three years. After that, there are no plans to use these houses as accommodation.

Asylum accommodation in Windisch

Find out where you stand

How Switzerland’s views on refugees have evolved

Ukrainian refugees have been welcomed with open arms by Switzerland. This breaks with recent Swiss tradition of being closed to those fleeing repression and war. SWI swissinfo.ch takes a look back at how Switzerland has welcomed refugees over the years.

The warm welcome to Ukrainian refugees in 2022 reminds many in Switzerland of the year 1956, when Soviet tanks rolled into Hungary. A wave of solidarity ran through Switzerland: church bells rang and people stood for a minute's silence in tribute to what was then called the “unprecedented fight for freedom of the heroic Hungarian people”.

Refugees from Hungary were given asylum unconditionally. All that was required was "a wish on their part to come to Switzerland", declared the federal government at the time. Hungarians were considered worthy of asylum in the country since they were freedom fighters in the great struggle against Communism. They were allowed to work, and settle if they chose.

This openness did not extend to everybody though. If someone did not fit the profile of an anti-Communist, they were less likely to be accepted.

Refugees from Algeria in the 1950s were a good example of this selective policy. They too were fleeing  from an anti-colonial war of independence. Yet they were classified as “persons in need” by the Swiss government as opposed to refugees. In fact, the Swiss authorities routinely suspected them of being “extremists”.

Even Egyptian Jews who decided in late 1956 to flee to Switzerland didn't experience much of a welcome. In November 1956, Israel, France and Britain had occupied the Sinai peninsula. Egypt branded Egyptian Jews as “Zionist” enemies of the state. Jews in Egypt experienced abuse and violence, their businesses were seized – a context reminiscent of previous pogroms.

In Switzerland they were asked to move on after their arrival; their stay and their onward journey had to be arranged by Jewish organisations – a practice, which the Jewish community in Switzerland mastered from the Second World War.

Refugees from Communist countries were received with open arms. Switzerland, after its appalling behaviour during the Second World War, was seeking to anchor itself in western ideology as clearly as it could. Even Tibetan refugees from as far away as China at the outset of the 1960s were found to be “culturally suitable people to live in harmony with (the) Swiss”.

Refugees from Czechoslovakia were also welcomed in 1968. There was no quibbling about individual cases. It was just assumed that, as people from a Communist country, they were exposed to “internal pressure from the regime”.

Hans Mumenthaler, the then head of the federal government's foreigners and social welfare department, justified this policy in 1967 in the following words: “To demand of an asylum seeker to prove persecution or risk of death is about as realistic as asking him to produce a hair from the beard of the Prophet. Rightly it has been said that such proof could only be provided if the asylum seeker was already in the hands of his persecutors.”

Yet not all victims of dictatorial regimes were viewed the same way; refugees who echoed Switzerland's position in the Cold War were given preference. This approach was obviously at work in 1973, when the right-wing military junta of General Augusto Pinochet seized power in Chile. The federal cabinet at the time wanted no refugees from the country. This radical view only changed after refugee organisations mounted protests.

On into the 1970s, asylum was a “grace privilege” that the federal government had in its power to bestow. Only in 1979 did Switzerland adopt a legal framework determining who might claim the right to asylum. This was to minimise arbitrary decisions based on geopolitical significance.

After 1980, asylum applications increased, independent of the legislation. The global situation had changed. Refugees now came from states, which were supposedly allies in the fight against Communism. In 1980 there was a military coup in Turkey. Thousands were persecuted, and members of the oppressed Kurdish minority had to flee – some of them to Switzerland. But this time no one was talking about “internal pressure from the regime”.

A rejection of an asylum request from a Kurd in the early 1980s reads: “According to the information he has provided, he was arrested in a military sweep along with many other people from the same village… So this was not a state action specifically directed against the applicant. For this reason, the incident does not qualify him for asylum under our terms.”

Whereas refugees from Communist countries in previous decades had been assumed to be resisting the regime and therefore qualified for asylum, persecution as a group now no longer counted as grounds for granting asylum. These “new” refugees were regarded with deep-seated mistrust.

It may have had some relevance that these people looked different. Refugees from Sri Lanka, where a civil war broke out in 1983, were considered the first group of dark-skinned people to ask for asylum status. Some politicians found them as "more foreign" than previous refugees. Liberal parliamentarian Hans-Georg Lüchinger in 1984 called for a rejection of entire groups because of their origin: “It is doubtful whether reception of Tamils in Switzerland should be encouraged through the current application of the asylum process. These fellow human beings from Asia are just not likely to fit in here.”

Furthermore, in view of the increasing numbers of asylum applicants in the early 1980s, there emerged the picture of an endless flow of people which Switzerland needed to protect themselves from. Federal minister Elisabeth Kopp declared in 1985 that Switzerland could not “just open the flood-gates to all those who come for other reasons besides asylum”. The idea that asylum seekers would abuse Switzerland's hospitality became a major theme in the 1980s, and the initial amendments to the asylum legislation in 1984 and 1988 set the bar for admission higher. 

While migration experts speak of a “new kind of” refugee defined as one coming from non-European countries, politicians were quick to divide them up into “true and false refugees”. The idea of the “economic refugee” expressed the fear that people were no longer coming to Western Europe to flee oppression, but poverty and misery – this motivation was even ascribed to people fleeing from civil wars.

At the outset of the 1990s, the right-wing conservative Swiss People's Party successfully promoted this distinction and popularised a new image of the refugee. In their campaigns, refugees were not just people in need but people who wanted to get residence in the country by any means. Whereas the typical refugee in the Cold-War era was fleeing a brutal Communist regime, by 1989 the asylum seeker was demonised as Communists had been. The stereotype of the refugee was now the drug dealer and knife-wielding criminal.

After the 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, it might have been possible to portray refugees from Afghanistan and Syria as allies in the so-called "international war on terror”, since they were fleeing from the likes of the Taliban and the Islamic State. But the potential wave of solidarity with arrivals from Syria never materialised in Switzerland.

Translated from German by Terence MacNamee.

How refugees are viewed in Switzerland

Refugees often shunned by Swiss employers

Many refugees can’t find work in Switzerland. Yet they are a valuable resource that employers can tap into to overcome the current labour shortage. Not knowing their rights and preconceived ideas about them are part of the problem.    

In her native Benin, Judith Houetohossou has worn many hats. She was a hairdresser and a secretary for a local newspaper; she trained in IT; she even opened a restaurant with her sister. Since 2019, she has been a refugee in Switzerland and has worked as a cleaner at Biel/Bienne Hospital, in canton Bern, for almost a year.

“I mainly clean the rooms of patients who have been discharged,” the 45-year-old explains. Several times a week she also helps serve meals. The work is fast paced, with limited time for each task, and the days are often long, but she goes about her job with a cheerful smile.

Working can mean a lot to people with refugee status. It leads to financial independence, but it is also a way of integrating into Swiss society and understanding how it works. “My husband died last year,” Houetohossou explains. “I didn’t know anyone here. At work I met people, and we sometimes also get together at weekends.”

The head of housekeeping at the hospital, Melissa Silva Melo, is delighted with her team member’s motivation and enthusiasm. “She learnt everything in just two days. She fitted in very quickly and is both reliable and flexible.” These qualities are vital, especially when staff is short. “I sometimes have to call in a team member who is on leave to lend a hand. Judith has often bailed us out,” she says.

Switzerland is facing an unprecedented labour shortage, which is expected to get worse in the coming years. At the end of last year more than 120,000 jobs were vacant, according to figures from the Federal Statistical Office. Difficulties in recruitment affect all fields, but the health sector is particularly badly hit, with 17,600 unfilled positions in late December.

Against this backdrop, refugees represent a valuable pool of resources – especially as the number of migrants arriving in Switzerland is increasing sharply. A total of 24,511 applications for asylum were lodged in Switzerland last year, up by 64% from the previous year. The federal and cantonal governments estimate that around 70% of these people could join the labour force on a long-term basis. For the moment, though, this potential has not been fully exploited, and fewer than half of all refugees are gainfully employed.

>>This graphic shows the evolution of asylum processing in Switzerland

Their employment rate varies according to the category of residence permit they have been granted, as shown by statistics from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). Thus 41.4% of those who have been granted asylum, and therefore hold a refugee B permit, are gainfully employed. Meanwhile, 47.3% of those admitted on a temporary basis (F permit holders) – who are not entitled to asylum but for whom Switzerland recognises a need for protection – are employed.

Refugees who have fled the war in Ukraine come in a category of their own, and have received S protection status since the start of the conflict. Just over 10% of them have been able to join the workforce, according to latest data published by the SEM.

These three categories enjoy unrestricted access to the job market. In 2019 the government even removed certain administrative hurdles. Thus, employers no longer need to request authorisation to hire people with a B or F permit. They must simply inform the authorities of the employment via the online portal EasyGov.swiss.

“For Ukrainians with an S permit, employers still have to request permission from the cantonal authorities, so that they can ensure compliance with working conditions,” explains Sophie Malka, coordinator of Vivre Ensemble, a French-speaking Swiss association that promotes the integration of refugees.

Meanwhile, people whose asylum applications are being processed (N permit holders) have only limited access to the labour market, as they are not permitted to work during the first three to six months after submitting their request, and their employment may be limited to certain sectors. Only 3.1% of them are gainfully employed. And anyone who has been refused asylum (that is, they have been issued with a removal order or their application has been deemed inadmissible) loses the right to work.

Employers shy from ‘temporarily admitted’ refugees

Theoretically, it is simple to employ someone who has an F or B refugee permit. In practice, though, finding a job can be a real obstacle course. Fikadu*, a 38-year-old Eritrean living in Geneva, has experienced this first-hand.

After arriving in Switzerland in late 2014, he was admitted on a temporary basis and received an F permit, like most of his compatriots. “Because of this temporary status, nobody wanted to hire me. I was offered unpaid internships of three or four months,” he says. Without a job, he depended on social assistance and had to live in a hostel for migrants. “Where I come from, if you don’t work, you can’t live. Whereas here you can live, but it’s depressing.”

After years of searching, Fikadu finally landed a steady job as a delivery man. Some months later, however, he was made redundant as part of a collective dismissal. This first fixed-term contract nonetheless enabled him to transform his provisional admission into a refugee B permit. “After that, I was able to find work more easily, in a cleaning company. This also meant I could move into a small flat.”

Social educator Sewit Abadi helps promote the professional integration of refugees through the Association of Intercultural Women Mediators in Geneva. She has supported Fikadu and other refugees in their search for work.

“Temporarily admitted refugees have a higher employment rate than those who have been granted asylum, but they often get more precarious work contracts. Employers are wary of taking on someone with an F permit, thinking that they will go back to their home countries,” she explains. This is not the case, however, as 84% of F permit holders go on to receive a long-term permit and stay in Switzerland for good.

Even without the “temporary” label, refugee B permit holders can have difficulty finding work. This is the case of Berihu*, a 24-year-old refugee from Eritrea.

The young man arrived in Switzerland when he was still a minor and finished his schooling in Geneva. He went on to obtain a federal vocational training certificate in sales, a form of apprenticeship aimed at young people with mainly practical skills. “I’ve been looking for work for three years now, and I’ve got nowhere. Yet I learnt French quickly and did training. They say we have to work, but it’s impossible,” he sighs.

Abadi, the social educator, also has difficulty in pinpointing where the problem lies. “You have the impression that young people like Berihu are doing everything they should, but they are unable to get a fixed employment contract. It’s very hard for them.” She believes that certain basic requirements should be adapted to make it easier for them to find work. “For instance, speaking perfect French should not be necessary to work as a cleaner. Languages can also be picked up on the job,” she says.

Malka, of Vivre Ensemble, considers the Swiss government’s plan to integrate 70% of refugees into the labour market to be realistic. In her view, the problem stems from ignorance of the rights linked to the different statuses within the Swiss asylum system. “We must continue to raise awareness among employers, above all reminding them that these people are going to stay in Switzerland, where they have been granted protection,” she says.

Certain preconceived ideas also need to be overcome, Malka cautions. “It’s easy to forget that these people come to us with their own skillsets. Everything seems to melt away behind the label of migrant.”

Measures must be taken, she believes, to tap into this potential immediately and help new arrivals enter the world of work. “The longer we wait before doing so, the harder it gets for them to find work, as they lose their skills, their self-confidence or their acquired knowledge,” she says.

She also regrets that people whose asylum requests are pending (N permit holders) are forbidden from working in the first few months and do not benefit from any real integration measures.

Swiss business circles also advocate integrating refugees into the workforce. “Given the historic labour shortage, we cannot afford to overlook this resource,” says Marco Taddei, head of the Swiss Employers’ Association in French-speaking Switzerland. He nonetheless identifies several obstacles that must be overcome: the language barrier, cultural differences and the need to match the refugees’ skills with the expectations of Swiss employers.

Taddei believes it will be difficult to increase the employment rate of this category of people. “I think we can already be satisfied with the results achieved. Companies are doing what they can. And it’s well worth their while, as they are generally getting hard workers who are strongly motivated,” he concludes.

Edited by Samuel Jaberg. Translated from French by Julia Bassam. 

Refugee employment

'Migration routes increasingly dangerous'

UN International Organisation for Migration spokeswoman to RSI: a coordinated, global response is needed to deal with a very difficult situation

Simone Fassora

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The influx of migrants via the Central Mediterranean route is putting Europe, including Switzerland, under pressure. More than 100,000 people have landed in Italy since the beginning of 2023, and during the days of Ferragosto, the highest threshold since 2017 was exceeded. Six years ago, 119,370 foreigners landed on the peninsula's shores throughout the year. We got a picture of the situation with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the main intergovernmental organisation in the field of migration founded in 1951, which is also part of the United Nations system.

"More and more deaths in the Mediterranean"

"The situation is very difficult, especially in the central Mediterranean." Safa Msehli, IOM spokesperson, explains to RSI: "We too have noticed an increase in arrivals in Europe, particularly in Italy via the Central Mediterranean route. We have also seen a sharp increase in deaths on this particular route, for example. So far we have recorded 1,800 deaths this year, a number that is already much higher than the total number of deaths recorded in the previous year."

According to the IOM, the lack of safe routes causes more and more risks. "Yes, the lack of safe and regular migration routes pushes people to use the services of smugglers", explains Safa Msehli. "And unfortunately, many of them end up in the hands of traffickers. This is why it is necessary to expand safe migration routes, but more importantly to expand inclusion or better inclusion in the labour market for migrants at all skill levels, thus helping to alleviate the pressure of these irregular migration routes."

A few days ago, more than 60 migrants died off the coast of Cape Verde Island in the Atlantic following a shipwreck. Perhaps they were heading for the Canary Islands, for them the promised land. "Well, this shows the level of desperation people are facing." The IOM spokesperson tells us further. "The migrants and asylum seekers we speak with tell us they are fleeing situations of desperation, whether it is conflict, climate change disasters, wars, whether they are fleeing persecution or simply seeking a better life, looking for a better job and a better life for their families.

"It is difficult to speculate, but it is clear that we have seen an increase in departures this year, especially to Europe and the central Mediterranean", Msehli concludes. "This is why it is very important to work together regionally but also internationally to address the factors that drive migration and the root causes of irregular migration back home, as well as expanding regular pathways and protection in the labour market."

The danger of migration routes

Denmark has become one of the most restrictive countries when it comes to asylum

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In just a few years, Denmark has tightened its asylum policy considerably. In just two years, the kingdom has passed 42 laws aimed at restricting entry conditions, asylum, citizenship, and facilitating expulsions.

Today, Denmark is doing everything it can to dissuade migrants and refugees from arriving. The police can now confiscate an applicant's property and valuables when they enter the country, family reunification has become very complicated and, above all, the right to asylum is not definitive. It is reassessed every year or two.

"We have moved from a humanitarian aid model to a model of tougher asylum policy. It's a reputation Denmark could do without", says Charlotte Slente, Secretary General of the Danish Refugee Council, on Tout un monde. "We should be known for something other than such a strict asylum policy", she continues.

The tightening of these laws weighs heavily on asylum seekers. The hardest thing, according to Fatima, a Moroccan woman who came to Denmark to be reunited with her family, is the constant reassessment of their status and the increasing number of entry conditions. She spent 13 years in various reception and departure centres before being granted provisional admission. Her daughter was even born in one of these centres.

"I hate this system, because it doesn't give people any opportunity to live their lives or finish school", she says. According to her, children "develop mental disorders in asylum centres" and "wonder every day whether the police is going to deport them". "In my case, it took them 13 years to decide whether or not to deport me", she concludes.

But this deterrent policy is working. There were 21,000 asylum applications in 2015, at the peak of the migration crisis, compared with just 4,600 last year. For comparison, last year there were 24,000 asylum applications in Switzerland. These figures do not include Ukrainian refugees, who enjoy special status in both cases.

"Too much immigration has become a challenge for our Danish model of society", says Kasper Sand Kjaer, the Danish government's spokesman on asylum and immigration issues. "If you have too many people arriving with different traditions, different cultures and different values, it undermines our welfare state for everyone", the Social Democrat MP continues.

Paradoxically, this policy was implemented by the centre-left. The 2015 Danish elections represented a major turning point, with the far right coming second. Its anti-immigration rhetoric is spreading, first to the right and then to the Social Democrats.

For Kasper Sand Kjaer, the centre-left has neglected immigration issues. "It's precisely because of this debate that there are very few European countries with a centre-left in a strong position", he says. "If you don't see that globalisation has this dark side and that it's the working class that is paying the price, you lose your essence as a Social Democrat."

Denmark's centre-left has somehow managed to dispassionate the national debate, with a broad consensus within the political class. But in refugee advocacy groups, some much more critical voices are being heard. "There's something called national socialism and it reminds me of this", says Nynne Roberta Pedersen, director of Trampolin Huset, an association offering legal advice and a space for dialogue for asylum seekers.

According to her, Denmark is "a welfare state, but only for one category of people". Criticising the migration policy of the centre-left government, she believes that "the liberal right is almost more open to refugees".

Charlotte Slente points out that "around 75% of the world's refugees are taken in by countries neighbouring those they are fleeing, and these are low- and middle-income countries". "There's this feeling in the current political rhetoric, in Denmark and throughout Europe,  that we have a refugee problem. No, it's the refugees who have a problem because they have to flee a country in conflict", she continues.

Some European right-wing and extreme right-wing leaders are now looking to the Danish model for inspiration. But it may be difficult to turn it into a Europe-wide policy, particularly as "if everyone does the same, the deterrent effect will no longer work".

According to Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, professor of refugee and migrant law at the University of Copenhagen, "the model works for Denmark, because we've always tried to be more restrictive than the other countries around us and to create a negative image of our country. As a result, asylum seekers are choosing other European countries".

However, Denmark wants to take its policy of restricting immigration even further. Following the example of the United Kingdom, it is considering outsourcing asylum applications to external countries, such as Rwanda.

For the time being, these measures are held back by international law, but for Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, a taboo has been broken. "In the European context, we have laws and conventions on human rights that set high standards", he explains. "We must ask ourselves whether a country like Rwanda is capable of respecting them. But what has changed is that we no longer refrain from thinking about such measures", he continues.

Today, the centre-left is taking a tougher line on asylum and immigration, but in the long term it risks affecting the Danish economy, which, like the rest of Europe, is suffering from a cruel shortage of labour in certain sectors.

Denmark's asylum policy

The country has a humanitarian tradition and handles a relatively high number of applications compared to neighboring countries, but there are also critics

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