{"id":78104,"date":"2026-06-05T10:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T10:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/78104\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T10:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T10:38:11","slug":"swiss-cantons-brace-for-millions-in-costs-for-ukrainian-refugees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/78104\/","title":{"rendered":"Swiss cantons brace for millions in costs for Ukrainian refugees"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

At the end of December 2025, there were over 71,000 Ukrainians with special S refugee status living in Switzerland. <\/p>\n

Keystone \/ Michael Buholzer <\/p>\n

Cantons and municipalities are warning of substantial additional costs as Ukrainians with protection status S begin transitioning to regular social assistance from 2027. Nationwide, the extra burden is estimated at around CHF300 million ($380 million).\n<\/p>\n

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June 5, 2026 – 11:56\n<\/p>\n

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\u201cWithout federal support, this would add about three percent to our municipal tax rate,\u201d said Bruno T\u00fcscher, mayor of M\u00fcnchwilen, canton Aargau, highlighting the stakes.<\/p>\n

From 2027, the first people with protected refugee status S will transition to regular social assistance. The bill will be passed on to the cantons and municipalities. Nationwide, they expect additional costs of around CHF300 million.<\/p>\n

Several cantons have already quantified the impact. In Aargau, municipalities expect additional costs of around CHF25 million and are pressing for clarity as 2027 budgets are prepared. <\/p>\n

+ Swiss refugee pivot for Ukrainian refugees raises doubts<\/a><\/p>\n

Graub\u00fcnden estimates that about 900 refugees could switch to regular welfare, costing CHF5.4 million annually \u2013 CHF 2.2 million of that in the city of Chur alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s a best-case scenario. I expect that this figure will unfortunately have to be revised upwards,\u201d says city councilor Patrik Degiacomi of the Social Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

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\"Central<\/p>\n

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Swiss cantons object to conversion of asylum status to work permits <\/p>\n

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Several Swiss cantons object to converting temporary S protection status into work permits. <\/p>\n

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Read more: Swiss cantons object to conversion of asylum status to work permits
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In St Gallen, municipalities anticipate an added CHF16 million burden. Given the strained financial situation, this represents an additional burden for many municipalities, says Bernhard Keller, director of the Association of St Gallen municipalities.<\/p>\n

The Conference of Social Directors\u00a0of Central Switzerland\u00a0also speaks of drastic consequences. In several Swiss cantons there, welfare costs for Ukrainian refugees could nearly double if no countermeasures are taken.<\/p>\n

\n More<\/p>\n

\"Ukrainians<\/p>\n

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Foreign Affairs\n <\/p>\n

Since rule change Switzerland rejects 104 Ukrainian refugees <\/p>\n

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This content was published on <\/p>\n

Apr 10, 2026 <\/p>\n

Ukrainians only accepted into Switzerland if they live in occupied zones or near to the front line. <\/p>\n

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Read more: Since rule change Switzerland rejects 104 Ukrainian refugees
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Questioning system<\/p>\n

Some cantons are questioning the system itself. Bern has around 7,500 people with status S, of which 5,000 could be eligible for a B residence permit \u2013 and thus for regular social assistance \u2013 in 2027. From canton Bern\u2019s perspective, they should nevertheless remain within the asylum social assistance system. The canton argues that the basic principle of status S \u2013 temporary protection with a prospect of return \u2013 is undermined by an automatic transfer to ordinary social assistance.<\/p>\n

Criticism of the federal government is mounting<\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal government had over five years to create a clear and sustainable regulation for status S. This has not yet been achieved,\u201d says Gundekar Giebel, spokesperson for the Bern cantonal social services department. <\/p>\n

Integration concerns <\/p>\n

Currently, recipients of status S receive between CHF 13 and CHF 23 per day for basic needs, depending on the canton \u2013 levels the Swiss Refugee Council deems too low.<\/p>\n

Tobias Fritsche from Bern University of Applied Sciences, who has researched the integration of people with S status, warns of the consequences of reduced support payments. Less money limits integration opportunities. Children and young people are often affected \u2013 for example, when leisure activities or membership in a sports club can no longer be financed.<\/p>\n

He finds it particularly troubling that the federal government is unilaterally shifting costs onto cantons and municipalities as part of the 2027 relief package. Extending regular social assistance to people with status S will further increase this burden.<\/p>\n

Eastern Swiss cantons are also calling for more autonomy, insisting they should decide benefit levels if they are expected to bear the financial burden.<\/p>\n

Translated from German with AI\/sb<\/p>\n

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Articles in this story <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the end of December 2025, there were over 71,000 Ukrainians with special S refugee status living in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[101,3931,301,326,2940,100,1456,1812,5301,41,17,21313],"class_list":["post-78104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-article","tag-beat-best-of-srg-content","tag-beat-foreign-affairs","tag-beat-swiss-politics","tag-immigration","tag-latest-news","tag-politics-general","tag-production-type-curation","tag-refugee","tag-swiss","tag-switzerland","tag-user-need-update-me"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116697071848209838","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}