Ukraine
People also continued to flee the war in Ukraine.
There are now around 4.4 million people with protection status in the EU and Schengen area.
The status varies from country to country, but in most EU/Schengen states it is roughly equivalent to Switzerland’s protection status S.
In 2023, 18,375 people were granted protection status S in Switzerland.
Unlike the asylum procedure, status S is temporary, collective protection and is granted to anyone who was living in Ukraine when the war broke out.
At the same time, it was withdrawn from 13,512 others.
Overall, the number of people with protection status S in 2023 remained roughly the same.
The employment rate of people with protection status S rose from 14.3% to 21.1%.
The employment rate indicates the percentage of people between the ages of 18 and 64 who are in work. The Federal Council would like this rate to rise to 40% by the end of 2024 for people with protection status S.