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The Swiss authorities have announced that in February 2023, the country registered a total of 1,681 asylum applications, fewer than the previous month but more than in the same period last year.
According to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) of Switzerland, the country registered 842 fewer asylum applications in February 2023 than in January 2023, representing a 33.4 per cent decrease. On the other hand, compared to February of last year, the number of applications increased by 377, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Data provided by SEM show that similar to some previous months, the highest number of asylum applications in February of this year was filed by nationals of Türkiye, Afghanistan, Morocco, Algeria, and Eritrea.
Nationals of Türkiye filed a total of 310 asylum applications in February 2023, nationals of Afghanistan filed 295 applications, nationals of Morocco filed 179 applications, nationals of Algeria filed 159 applications, and nationals of Eritrea filed 156 applications.
Apart from sharing the total number of asylum applications it received in February 2023, SEM also revealed that of the total number of applications, 1,350 of them were primary applications and stressed that the main countries of origin for primary applications were Afghanistan (277), Türkiye (236), Morocco (179), Algeria (158), and Syria (51).
As for the number of processed applications, SEM said that in February 2023, it processed 2,177 applications. Of the total number of applications, 740 of them were denied, and 452 of them were approved. This means that in February 2023, a total of 452 people were granted asylum in Switzerland.
Moreover, another 675 people have been provisionally admitted to the country as part of the first-instance processing and the number of pending cases remained at 12,303.
Apart from admitting people to the country, Switzerland deported foreigners in February 2023 too. Figures provided by SEM show that in the previous month, 878 individuals were returned to their countries of origin in a controlled manner.
“Switzerland asked another Dublin country to take over 949 people, and 161 people were transferred to the responsible Dublin country in the same period. At the same time, Switzerland was asked by other Dublin states to take over 398 people, and 41 people were transferred to Switzerland,” SEM added.
In February 2023, Switzerland continued to grant temporary protection to Ukrainians who fled their country due to the war too. A total of 2,040 people applied for temporary protection in Switzerland’s asylum centres in February 2023. During the same month, the country granted protection to 1,874 Ukrainians and rejected protection for 78 of them for failing to meet the criteria.
>> Switzerland Continues to Face Challenges in Accommodating Asylum Seekers
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