Rising demands
Asylum: Bern could be less demanding of the cantons
During a meeting with cantonal representatives, the head of the State Secretariat for Migration affirmed that the Confederation agreed to temporarily stop the allocations, if a canton so requested.
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With the war in Ukraine, emergency reception centers were set up, like here at Palexpo (GE).
20min/Leonard Boissonnas
While cases of tenants evicted to make way for refugees have been talked about in the cantons ofAargau and of ZurichSwitzerland expects a number of asylum applications for 2023 between 23,000 and 40,000. Faced with this reality, a crisis meeting was held on Friday between the steering committee of the Conference of Cantonal Directors of Social Affairs (CDAS) and Christine Schraner Burgener, the head of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), reports the “SonntagsZeitung” of the day.
“Discussions were constructive. The cantons and the Confederation collaborate well because the common task in the field of asylum poses great challenges to all”, declared the SEM to the German-speaking newspaper. Recognizing “the currently tense situation in certain cantons”, Christine Schraner Burgener told cantonal representatives on Friday that the Confederation now agreed to proceed with a temporary cessation of allocations, if a canton so requested.
In concrete terms, this means that asylum seekers would stay longer in the structures of the SEM. The cantons of Geneva and Bern have already benefited from this admissions freeze in the past.
The Confederation currently has 11,000 reception places, reports the “SonntagsZeitung”, but according to data from the SEM almost two thirds are already occupied. Assuming that the number of asylum applications will soon increase, the SEM must make reservations. “We can’t look for places to stay only when people show up at our doorstep,” said a spokesperson.
(come)