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UKRAINE

Zurich offers CHF500 per person to encourage Ukrainian refugees to return

Ukrainian refugees in the canton of Zurich have been offered CHF500 to return home, as part of Switzerland’s return assistance program.

Published: 15 July 2022 17:35 CEST
Ukrainian refugees exit a plane chartered by a Swiss millionaire at Zurich Airport, on March 22, 2022. Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP
Ukrainian refugees exit a plane chartered by a Swiss millionaire at Zurich Airport, on March 22, 2022. Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have arrived in Switzerland since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. 

Zurich, Switzerland’s most populous canton, has been a popular destination for many fleeing the conflict in their homeland. 

On Tuesday, authorities said they were offering each Ukrainian CHF500 in assistance to return to Ukraine, should they wish to do so. 

Multiple family members can take a payment, with a maximum of CHF2,000 offered per family. 

The money has been offered under Switzerland’s ‘return assistance program’, a federal scheme “aimed at facilitating the voluntary return of migrants to their country of origin and their reintegration.” 

In addition to the money, Switzerland offers counselling and medical assistance to refugees who wish to return. 

Generally anyone who wants to take advantage of the program is entitled to a maximum of CHF1,000, although the Swiss government works with the cantons to set the cost differently for each country. 

‘We already have a number of applications’

Zurich councillor Mario Fehr said arrivals to Switzerland had already taken advantage of the program. 

“We already have a number of applications,” he said on Tuesday. 

As it stands, Switzerland’s special ’S Permit’ status for Ukrainian arrivals is set to expire in March 2022, although it can be extended. 

Fehr defended the plan, saying it was developed to be supportive rather than to push refugees to relocate. 

City councilor Raphael Golta noted that cantonal authorities were finding it difficult to provide for the new arrivals. 

“We are planning with different variants and want to communicate in late summer. At best , container and tent settlements come into question.”

Around 2,000 people in Zurich have received S Permit status. 

Is Switzerland tiring of Ukrainian refugees?

We all remember heartbreaking photos of Ukrainian women and children fleeing the war after Russia invaded their country on February 24th.

Like many other European nations, the Swiss opened their hearts and borders to these people, with both the government and population moved by empathy toward the innocent victims of war.

ANALYSIS: Why is Swiss solidarity with Ukrainian refugees waning?

Swiss authorities even activated a special permit, the so-called Status S, authorising Ukrainian refugees to live and work in Switzerland for up to a year — a period that could be extended if the war isn’t over by then.

Refugees from other countries meanwhile have to wait for three months before seeking permission to work in Switzerland.

Status S also grants Ukrainians free health care, language courses, as well as financial aid, the amount of which depends on the canton of residence.

Initially they were entitled to free use of public transport across Switzerland, but that perk expired on May 31st, with some cantons replacing the federal scheme with their own free, limited-zone transport schemes.

READ MORE: Switzerland’s special ‘S permit’ visa program: What Ukrainians need to know

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UKRAINE

Swiss pull out the stops for Ukraine summit security

Switzerland is undertaking a major security operation around this weekend's summit on Ukraine, aiming to ward off not only physical threats but also cyberattacks and misinformation.

Published: 14 June 2024 08:56 CEST
Swiss pull out the stops for Ukraine summit security

With dozens of heads of state and government flying in for the gathering at the swanky Burgenstock resort overlooking Lake Lucerne, up to 4,000 troops are being deployed and a ring of steel has been put in place.

Around 6.5 kilometres of fencing and eight kilometres of barbed wire is going up, while the valley behind the exclusive hotel complex has been turned into a temporary military heliport.

“An event on this scale requires comprehensive protective measures,” Swiss President Viola Amherd said ahead of the summit.

High on a mountain ridge, surrounded by water on three sides, the Burgenstock is relatively straightforward to seal off.

More than 400 local residents with homes and farms beyond the checkpoint need a special pass to access the “red zone”.

Despite the event’s international importance, security responsibility falls to the tiny rural canton of Nidwalden.

The fifth-smallest of Switzerland’s 26 cantons in terms of both size and population, Nidwalden has just 45,000 residents.

Mud and helicopters 

The military will protect infrastructure, provide air transport and reconnaissance, conduct surveillance and interventions on the lake, and offer logistics and command support.

Soldiers have for days been taking position on the winding turns on the road up to the Burgenstock.
Overlooked by cattle with their cowbells clanging, the heliport was built with metal trackway on a squelching field.

Big enough to accommodate five helicopters, it is surrounded by a double layer of steel fencing and barbed wire.

“The army has the ability to set up a temporary take-off and landing zone anywhere in the country,” said Major General Daniel Keller, commander of the Swiss army’s Territorial Division 2, which encompasses Nidwalden.

“The foreign ministry decides which people fly from here and to here. The army provides the infrastructure,” he told reporters this week.

He said the armed forces were accustomed to maintaining air sovereignty.

“Federal law clearly alludes to the possibility of shooting down an aircraft,” he said, while remaining tight-lipped on potential threats such as drones.

“I am tense but I’m confident we can master this.”

The Swiss intelligence services will also work to identify and prevent threats.

Mindful of potential nuclear, biological and chemical threats, specialists will intensify the monitoring of radioactive emission levels in the area, authorities said.

Cyberattacks, ‘extreme’ misinformation 

Besides potential physical threats, Switzerland is also dealing with attacks in cyberspace and a deluge of misinformation surrounding the event.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, is not attending the summit.

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said there was “an obvious interest in disturbing the smooth running of the conference”.

He said there had been an increase in misinformation, including “hysterical broadcasts or offensive broadcasts, even as far as fake news”.

Amherd said the misinformation was “so extreme it’s clear that very little of this information is in line with reality”.

A first wave of distributed denial-of-service attacks on government websites and organisations involved in the summit began on Thursday.

DDoS attacks make websites or network resources unavailable by flooding them with malicious traffic.

“The attacks were expected and are presumed to be in connection with the summit. They resulted in minor outages,” said the National Cyber Security Centre.

It has set up an emergency centre for technical analyses and a communications platform for reporting “cyber-threat developments” during the summit.

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