Protection status S – Federal Council: More people with protection status S should work – News


Contents

Federal Councilor Beat Jans presents the measures to integrate those affected more quickly into the labor market.

  • The Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJPD) has appointed a commissioner for labor market integration.
  • Federal Councilor Jans specifically addresses companies.
  • With these measures, among other things, the Federal Council wants to save 700 million francs in the asylum system.

“I expect that bosses and human resources managers will first look for workers in Switzerland before they look in Europe,” emphasized Federal Councilor Beat Jans in the press conference at which the measures to better integrate people with protection status S into the world of work were presented. The Federal Council also addressed people with protection status S directly: “Those who work learn the language. We need you, and one day Ukraine will need you again.”

The S protection status basically expects people to return to their country. Nevertheless, the employment rate of people with protection status S is to be increased from 24 percent to 40 percent in a first step; in a second step, increasing the employment rate to 45 percent in 2025 will be examined. This is intended to relieve the burden on social welfare. In addition, those affected should be able to contribute to the reconstruction of their country when they return with their retained or newly acquired qualifications.

What is protection status S?


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The Asylum Act (Art. 4 and Art. 66 ff.) provides for S status for people who have been declared by the Federal Council to be “in need of protection” based on certain criteria. They will be admitted quickly without an asylum procedure and until the need for protection no longer applies. This is a temporary humanitarian admission for groups whose refugee status is not checked. There are currently almost 65,000 people with protection status S living in Switzerland. 24 percent of them were employed at the end of April. For those who have been there since the first semester of 2022, it is 32 percent.

The status has been applied to the defined group of people since March 12, 2022. At its meeting on November 1, 2023, the Federal Council decided not to revoke the S protection status before March 4, 2025.

Only a small proportion of employable people with protected status are currently registered with the regional employment centers. That should change. In order to achieve registration with the RAV for people who are fit for work and to fundamentally improve placement in the labor market, asylum social assistance and integration support as well as public employment services should work more closely together in the future.

Strengthen cooperation with business

Since the beginning of the year, the cantonal social welfare authorities have been required to report people who are fit for work and have protected status S to the public employment agency. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) plan to strengthen cooperation with targeted communication, information and awareness-raising. A national impulse conference is planned for June 20, 2024.

In order to strengthen cooperation with business, the EYPD has appointed Adrian Gerber, the current head of the integration department in the SEM, as labor market integration representative. He will mediate between administration and business and win over companies for the professional integration of people with protection status S. Over the course of the year, they will also have access to a job platform operated by ETH Zurich and the University of Lausanne, which is aimed at the specific needs of refugees.

Recognition of degrees

The Federal Council also wants to start with the recognition of qualifications. Additional qualifications are often necessary for this, and those affected usually need support, for example information on how to proceed. In order to promote such offers, the SEM, together with the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), supports corresponding pilot projects, which are now to be continuously expanded. In principle, recognized refugees and those temporarily admitted can also benefit from these measures to improve employment integration.

Berne asylum director calls for protection status S to be abolished


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The Bernese asylum director Pierre Alain Schnegg is calling for the abolition or restriction of the S protection status. This no longer primarily benefits Ukrainians, but is abused by Roma. All applicants presented Ukrainian documents. “But in many cases we doubt this identity.” Many speak neither Ukrainian nor Russian. Instead of the S protection status, one of the regular residence permits should be used, said Schnegg. “An alternative to completely abolishing S status would be to only grant it to Ukrainians from certain regions of the country that are heavily affected by the war.”

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