The ACS warns of a possible collapse of the Swiss asylum system

The director of the ACS warns of an imminent crisis in the Swiss asylum system, in a context of intense pressure on municipalities.

The director of the Association of Swiss Municipalities (ACS) Claudia Kratochvil warns in the Sunday press against the risk of a collapse of the asylum system in Switzerland. The situation in the municipalities remains extremely tenseshe warns.

A recent survey shows that 31% of municipalities cite the supervision of asylum seekers as one of their main problems, notes Kratochvil in an interview broadcast on Sunday by the NZZ on Sunday. Many of them no longer know where to house asylum seekers, she adds, emphasizing that the use of underground civil protection shelters is no longer an exception, but a common practice.

The director of the ACS also notes that the population’s acceptance of refugees is declining and that the number of host families has sharply decreased.

22,000 asylum applications pending

The savings planned by the Federal Council are also a problem, notes Kratochvil. The manager points in particular to the reduction in the integration package of half a billion francs per year which is “not manageable” and will have massive repercussions on the budgets of municipalities and cantons.

Municipalities are already heavily stressed by the 22,000 pending asylum applications, she adds. These people “are in a queue and blocking places that are urgently needed”. Kratochvil calls on the Confederation to quickly reduce the backlog of cases and examine the applications in federal asylum centers.

Despite this gloomy picture, the director of the ACS sees progress in the asylum system in Switzerland. The municipalities are now more involved in the “overall asylum strategy” and a national summit on asylum is planned for the fall in order to create more efficiency between the Confederation, the cantons and the municipalities, notes she said. (chl/ats)

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