Switzerland plans to revise its approach to granting protection status to Ukrainian refugees. From now on, only those Ukrainians who lived directly before their departure in regions under the occupation of the Russian Federation or in areas of active hostilities will be granted the right to protection. The list of such territories includes Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Mykolaiv.
This is reported by Finway
Updated Classification of Safe and Unsafe Regions
At the end of 2024, Norway introduced a division of Ukraine into “safe” and “unsafe” regions. The unsafe regions include Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. Meanwhile, the regions of Western and Central Ukraine have been recognized as safe. Switzerland is likely to adapt this system with minor changes.
The Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) confirmed that the Federal Council is preparing a decision to implement the new system. This change means that S status will no longer be automatically granted to all Ukrainian citizens, as it was at the beginning of the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation.
New Rules Will Only Apply to Future Arrivals
The changes will only affect those who arrive in Switzerland after the new rules come into effect. Ukrainians who are already in the country will remain under the existing protection.
Statistics indicate that since July 2022, about a third of Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland have come from regions that may be recognized as safe. This highlights the potentially significant consequences of implementing the new policy.
The initiative to review the protection policy was proposed by the right-wing conservative Swiss People’s Party (SVP). Its representative in the National Council, Pascal Schmid, emphasized the necessity of these changes:
“This is the right step, but it remains unclear why the Federal Council did not implement restrictions earlier,” he noted.
At the same time, the Swiss Refugee Council expressed doubts about the appropriateness of such a division. In their opinion, the security situation in Ukraine is unstable, and the new system may lead to unequal treatment between those who arrived in Switzerland earlier and newcomers.
For Ukrainians from “safe” regions who apply not for S status but for regular asylum, their cases will be considered individually. If returning to their home country is deemed impossible, the individual will receive a temporary residence permit in Switzerland.