Is Switzerland planning to deport tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees? No, that's not true: The government has taken note of a provisional strategy elaborated by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) in collaboration with cantonal (provincial) authorities, that outlines how Switzerland will deal with refugees once it is safe for them to return home and the procedure of lifting their temporary protection status.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) that was published on TikTok on October 6, 2023. The caption in Czech, translated by Lead Stories staff reads:
Switzerland will kick tens of thousands of Ukrainians out of the country.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Oct 18 08:52:13 2023 UTC)
The video uses a screenshot of an article published by the Swiss.info website here on October 4, 2023, which says that the Swiss government has taken note of a provisional strategy for the return of Ukrainian refugees to their home country if it is safe for them to return home and once their temporary protection status will be removed.
The press release of the Swiss federal government saying that it took note of the provisional concept on September 29, 2023, can be found here in German. The press release mentions however that the end of the war that would allow Ukrainians to go back to their country is not in sight.
The press release states that the temporary protection status, the S protection, granted to refugees is normally not meant for a long-term stay. But on November 9, 2022, the Federal Council decided not to lift the S protection status until at least March 4, 2024, unless the situation in Ukraine stabilizes in the long term according to the government press release.
The provisional concept includes recommendations on aspects such as exit deadlines, exemption regulations or the design of return assistance. The press release says that as soon as a safe return and thus a lifting of the protection status S is foreseeable, the recommendations from the concept will be reviewed and, if necessary, adapted to the current circumstances. Only then will the Federal Council, in consultation with the European countries, make a final decision on the modalities for the revocation.
According to the website "Visit Ukraine" it is assumed that 80 percent of refugees will want to return home voluntarily from Switzerland as they have left family members behind in Ukraine. It is also planned to give financial assistance to them. The time frame given to Ukrainians for leaving Switzerland, once their temporary protection status is removed, would be 6 to 9 months, according to the article.
