Around half of the Ukrainians in Switzerland are housed privately. However, the direct allocation from the federal government to host families leads to problems. Some cantons are taking the reins into their own hands.
Only some of the Ukrainian refugees live in collective accommodation.
Even more than two months after the beginning of the war, solidarity with Ukrainian refugees is huge. According to the federal government, around half of the more than 41,000 people who have so far sought protection in Switzerland are housed privately. Private individuals have offered around 66,000 beds via a platform run by the Campax organization and Swiss Refugee Aid (SFH).
The expectations of the SFH were high. At the beginning of March, Christine Schraner Burgener, the State Secretary for Migration, gave her the mandate to place Ukrainians directly from the federal asylum centers with host families. In the meantime, a certain disillusionment has spread.
The number of Ukrainian refugees that the SFH has mediated from the federal centers to private individuals is low at around 3,800 to date. The organization has only assigned a few people through the cantons because the structures are only just being set up. Critical comments from representatives of the cantons and municipalities are also piling up: They complain that the direct allocation from the federal asylum centers to private individuals is turning the Swiss system upside down.
Directly to acquaintances
Miriam Behrens, the director of the SFH, puts the low number of assignments into perspective. “A large proportion of those who were accommodated privately did not depend on us, but went directly to friends and relatives.” At first glance, the approximately 3,800 Ukrainians who were placed by your organization would not look like much. “But for refugees and host families who didn’t know each other before, it’s a very good result.” In addition, it is expensive to ensure long-term serious support. The SFH wants to visit every host family.
Behrens also attributes the low number of mediated refugees to federalism. “We have to look for an individual solution with each canton, sometimes even with the municipalities,” she says. The more actors are involved, the more complicated it becomes. The SFH has received offers from host families in all cantons. However, the organization is only allowed to place refugees from the federal asylum centers in 14 of the 26 cantons.
St. Gallen is one of the cantons that does not work with refugee aid. The authorities first send all Ukrainians assigned to them by the federal government to collective accommodation for a few days. From there, the canton distributes the refugees to the municipalities and to private individuals. “In the difficult situation, we must not throw the tried-and-tested processes overboard,” says St. Gallen security director Fredy Fässler (SP). Otherwise there will be chaos. With the proven processes, Fässler means that the federal government allocates the refugees to the cantons, which take care of the further distribution.
The Canton of St. Gallen is not fundamentally opposed to accommodation with private individuals. However, he calls on them to contact the social services of the communities. The direct assignment from the federal asylum centers led to negative reactions from host families, who felt left alone by the authorities, says Fässler.
The canton itself is now checking whether private individuals are suitable for the accommodation. “It’s easier in collective accommodation than when we have to look for each person individually,” says Fässler. The host families for allocation from the federal asylum centers, on the other hand, would only be checked in summary. In the current crisis, the SFH does not have the capacity to visit all private accommodation first. According to Fässler, skepticism has also increased in other cantons.
Overburdened Communities
These include Graubünden, which worked with the refugee aid data until last week. The canton now also takes care of the offers and assignments itself. “In the beginning we were happy for the help of the SFH until we had set up our structures,” says Marcel Suter, head of the cantonal migration office. But the assignments from the federal asylum centers had occasionally led to problems.
So there was duplication. “We assigned Ukrainian people seeking protection to host families who had already taken in people without us or the SFH knowing anything,” says Suter. In addition, the canton knows the situation in the communities. The enrollment of the children is a big challenge. Some communities are heavily burdened because they are already responsible for refugees or have a high proportion of foreigners. “We also have to ensure the fairest possible distribution within the canton.”
A side aspect of private accommodation is that Ukrainian refugees go to hospitals in an emergency, even if they have trifles. They are used to this from their homeland, says Suter. In the case of collective accommodation, on the other hand, it is easier to convey the Swiss family doctor model. With status S, all Ukrainian refugees have access to health insurance – and thus to health care.
Despite the problems, Suter has had good experiences with private accommodation. “Without them we would not have been able to cope with the first rush.” Now the cantons and municipalities have to support the host families more closely so that they do not feel left alone. Numerous cantons have signed contracts with aid organizations to ensure support. It is in the interests of the authorities that private accommodation does not only work for a short period of time. “Anyone who lives in a host family or apartment does not like to switch to collective accommodation later on,” says Suter.
The canton continues to accommodate Ukrainians with host families and in vacant apartments. At the same time, he increased the number of places in collective accommodation. “We also assign those seeking protection to these, but keep reserves for the onslaught that could still come depending on developments in Ukraine,” says Suter. The number of asylum seekers has also increased. According to the federal government, the first Ukrainians are returning to their homeland. However, Suter does not expect that there will be many.
It is understandable that not everything works perfectly in such a crisis. Nevertheless, Miriam Behrens continues to rely on private accommodation via refugee aid. A pilot project is running at the Federal Asylum Center in Bern to place more Ukrainians with host families with more space and staff. Behrens hopes that other groups of refugees can also be housed privately in the future. In some cantons, such as Basel, Schaffhausen or Vaud, this is already the case.