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A total of 2,523 asylum applications were registered by authorities in Switzerland in January this year, according to the figures provided by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration (SEM).
January’s figures reveal that there was a marked 6.3 per decrease in asylum application figures compared to December 2022, during which month, there were submitted 169 fewer requests, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“Compared to January 2022, the number of asylum applications has increased by 1077. In January, 2,146 people who had fled Ukraine were also granted protection status S,” the statement provided by SEM reads.
Citizens from the following countries accounted for the largest number of asylum applications filed in January this year, in Switzerland:
- Afghanistan- 794 applications (9 more compared to December figures)
- Turkey – 507 applications (36 fewer asylum applications)
- Algeria – 198 applications (77 more compared to December)
- Morocco – 152 applications (55 more compared to December)
- Eritrea- 135 applications (12 more in comparison to December)
“Of the 2,523 applications submitted in January, 2,170 were primary applications (December 2022: 2,348 primary applications). Persons who make a primary request do so independently of other persons who have already requested protection,” the statement reads.
According to SEM, citizens from the following countries accounted for the highest number of first-time asylum requests in Switzerland in January this year: Afghanistan (754), Turkey (437), Algeria (192) and Morocco (151), Iran (62) and Tunisia (62).
In the first month of this year, a total of 2027 asylum requests were processed by SEM, a total of 694 decisions were taken to refuse entry, 339 people were granted asylum and 571 were provisionally admitted as part of the first-instance settlements.
At the same time, it was reported that the number of cases pending in the first instance rose by 529 to a total of 12,768 in comparison to the previous month.
A significant number of persons in Switzerland also left the country in January this year.
“In January, 1025 people left Switzerland in a controlled manner or were returned to their country of origin or a third country,” the statement by SEM reads.
Authorities in Switzerland revealed that a total of 2,181 Ukrainians applied for protection status S in the country’s asylum centres, while during the same period, 2,146 people were granted the protection status S. A total of 67 protection status requests were rejected in January this year.
Swiss nationals activated the protection status S for the first time on March 12, 2022, for refugees from Ukraine, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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