The Confederation must save 700 million francs in asylum by 2028. The number of pending files will have to decrease, procedures will be accelerated and the activity rate of Ukrainian refugees will increase, according to the Federal Council’s project.
The high number of applications for asylum and protection has led to increased spending on asylum in recent years. This increase will continue, particularly in the areas of social assistance and integration.
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Three areas seem particularly suitable for making substantial savings, writes the Federal Council in a press release. First, the number of pending asylum applications at first instance must increase from around 14,000 to 5,800 by the end of 2026.
The State Secretariat for Migration created 60 full-time positions this year for this purpose, for savings of around 80 million francs. On the other hand, additional personnel costs amounting to 26 million francs will have to be taken into account.
Professional integration
The Federal Council then intends to make significant savings by promoting professional integration, in particular for beneficiaries of protection status S. The objective is to achieve an activity rate of 40% by the end of the year 2024. Currently, this rate is around 20%, but is very different depending on the cantons.
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The government also adopted a package of measures in this direction on Wednesday. It hopes to save some 650 million francs in this area by 2028. Furthermore, it is counting on a reduction in costs thanks to the strengthening of professional integration among people temporarily admitted and recognized refugees.
The expected savings should total around 700 million francs by the end of 2028. This reduction in spending will be taken into account in the 2025 budget and in the financial plan.
Speed up procedures
Various measures to speed up asylum procedures could also help reduce costs, including the recent introduction of 24-hour asylum procedures throughout Switzerland. Justice Minister Beat Jans had already presented this measure which makes it possible to quickly resolve an asylum procedure for applications doomed to failure, in particular those coming from Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Tunisia.
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The Federal Department of Justice and Police will have to formulate further proposals by the end of 2024 with the aim of reducing costs in the area of asylum.
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