CHF21,000 per person: Switzerland ups financial support for Ukrainian refugees

The Swiss government’s financial support for Ukrainian refugees has been clarified, with money paid to the cantons to facilitate integration, accommodation, social assistance and medical care.

Published: 14 April 2022 16:02 CEST

A man waves a Ukrainian flag in front of the Swiss House of Parliament during a national demonstration for peace and against the war in Ukraine on April 2, 2022. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Switzerland’s Federal Council has upped its contribution to the cantons for Ukrainian refugees by CHF3,000, bringing the total provided per person to CHF21,000.

The CHF3,000 figure is primarily intended to promote language acquisition, thereby allowing for smoother integration into work, study and social life.

Previously, the Federal Council had pledged CHF18,000 per person to cover the costs of accommodation, medical care and social assistance.

While the funding comes from the federal government, administering refugee integration into Switzerland is done at a cantonal level.

According to news outlet 20 Minutes, a majority of the cantons are largely supportive of the funding but argue it will be insufficient in the longer term.

As at April 14th, an estimated 30,000 refugees from Ukraine have arrived in Switzerland, bringing the total pledged to CHF630 million.

How are refugees settled in Switzerland?

As part of Switzerland’s efforts to support those fleeing the conflict, it has approved the temporary ‘S permit’ visa regime. More information about this is available at the following link.

UPDATE: How Switzerland is supporting refugees from Ukraine

The S permit is an identity document authorising a temporary residence in Switzerland.

The S Permit was activated from Friday, the 12th March 2022 for not only Ukrainian nationals but also to certain citizens of other countries who have had to flee from Ukraine.

The Swiss government has provided updated contact information for federal centres in six Swiss cities and towns: Boudry, Bern, Basel, Chiasso, Zurich and Altstätten.

Official information in German, French, Italian, English and Ukrainian can be found here.

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The study said the security picture in Europe had sharply deteriorated, notably due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, power politics and increasingly destabilised crisis regions.

The defence ministry established the study commission on security policy in July 2023, and tasked it with outlining security policy adapted to current threats.

Its report contained more than 100 recommendations, chiefly concerning Swiss neutrality, international cooperation, armaments policy and the orientation of security strategy.

Switzerland’s long-standing position has been one of well-armed military neutrality.

The landlocked nation is neither in NATO nor the EU, while its neighbours Germany, Italy and France are in both, and Austria is an EU member.

“The neutrality policy must be revised, more focused on its security function and applied more flexibly,” a statement said.

A majority of the commission recommended that the neutrality policy be more closely aligned with the United Nations charter, with greater consideration of the distinction between aggressor and victim.

“Switzerland cannot represent a security gap in Europe,” and its location surrounded by the EU makes the need for defence cooperation “clear”, the report said.

“Neutrality is no obstacle to cooperation with NATO in security policy matters,” it added.

“Cooperation with NATO and the EU should be further deepened with the aim of a common defence capability and developing a genuine defence cooperation,” the statement said.

Switzerland should therefore set out its expectations from its own defence capabilities, and what it could offer to cooperation partners.

With the committee finding hybrid warfare was “the main threat to Switzerland”, the country’s arms industry should be strengthened and calibrated more closely to the threat situation.

Therefore, “access to EU and NATO cooperation projects should be ensured”.

The report also called for strengthened diplomatic efforts on international arms control and on regulating new technologies.

The report’s author said Russia’s aggression in Ukraine opened the door to a conflict with NATO, and said Switzerland’s neutrality did not guarantee it would not be attacked.

The study recommended increasing the defence budget to one percent of gross domestic product by 2030.

The report will feed into the broader 2025 security policy strategy.