Asylum requests increase by almost half
Requests for refugee status rose sharply in Switzerland during the second quarter of 2015, with a 47% increase in numbers compared with the same period last year, according to official statistics.
The State Secretariat for Migration reported on Tuesday that this was due “above all to the increase in the number of asylum requests by Eritrean nationals, who had arrived from southern Italy after crossing the central Mediterranean Sea”.
From April to June, Switzerland recorded 7,384 asylum requests, roughly 2,000 more than during the same period in 2014, and 2,895 more than between January and March of this year.
The federal agency explained that an increase also reflected seasonal trends when asylum seekers travel more due to milder temperatures.
Somali nationals were in second position with 455 requests, and Sri Lankans in third with 405 – far behind the 3,238 requests received from Eritrean asylum.
Meanwhile, the Secretariat for Migration said new housing had recently been built in cooperation with cantonal and local authorities to deal with the increase in asylum seekers.
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