Population figures
Total country population
8,851,431
Forcibly displaced population
Refugees (under UNHCR's mandate):
194,024
Asylum-seekers:
16,786
IDPs (of concern to UNHCR):
0
Other people in need of international protection:
0
Other
Statelessness persons
0
Host community
0
Others of concern to UNHCR
103
Country context
Until the beginning of Russia's war against Ukraine (see last paragraph of this sector), the topics of "refugees" and "migration" did not dominate public debates in Switzerland as it did a few years ago due to the lower number of asylum applications and other dominant topics such as the pandemic or climate change.
Shifts in the political landscape also play a role. The national conservative, right-wing populist party SVP remains the strongest party and continues to focus on refugees and migrants. But it lost seats in the 2019 elections, and it is less successful in instrumentalizing asylum for its purposes. The other conservative parties, however, have tended to slide to the right in the wake of earlier SVP successes. Restriction of the right to freedom of movement and the right to privacy which were adopted in 2021 showed that preventing deterioration for people of concern needs to remain a priority while there are hardly any political majorities for improvements.
...Swiss society remains divided into two segments: A liberal urban segment, which recognizes the concerns of refugee protection, and a rural conservative part, which perceives refugees and migrants mainly as a threat. The liberal urban segment has become more visible. For example, cities have signalled their willingness to accept more refugees. However, the conservative nationalist segment has also gained strength in the wake of global developments. Economic difficulties as a result of the pandemic could be used by the right to fuel additional fears and resentment against refugees and migrants. Switzerland is party of all principal human rights instruments, including the 51 and 54 Conventions, but not the Conventions for the reduction of statelessness. It has a national asylum system in place.
Update 28/03/2024:
Federal elections in October 2023 resulted in a shift to the right, making legislative improvements unrealistic. The continuous high numbers of arrivals in addition to the Ukrainian refugees stretch cantonal reception facilities and give rise to negative sentiments in the population which are further instrumentalized by right wing parliamentarians. High numbers of arrivals also otherwise negatively impact the protection space.
[Situation Analysis : https://unhcr-c1.board.com/#/screen/?capsulePath=RBM%20Planning%5CRBM%20Planning.bcps&screenId=0246e466-6fbf-4a0f-a543-e9d8e3dcd3c5 | extracted 21 August 2024]
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