Switzerland has decided to restrict the granting of protection status (Status S) to Ukrainian refugees from seven western oblasts of Ukraine starting 1 November.

Source: SRF, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The Swiss Federal Council has decided to change its approach to granting protection status to Ukrainians starting 1 November.

Since "sustainable stabilisation... does not seem realistic in the medium term" in Ukraine, the Swiss government will continue to grant protection status to Ukrainians. However, the Swiss parliament demanded that a distinction be made between oblasts of Ukraine to which return is considered acceptable and those to which return is unacceptable.

The Swiss government is therefore complying with this request and considers it acceptable for Ukrainians to return to Volyn, Rivne, Lviv, Ternopil, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi oblasts.

The new rules will come into force on 1 November this year. Those who have already been granted protection status are not subject to the new restrictions.

The Federal Council has also decided that protection status will not be revoked before the beginning of March 2027.

"To understand the scale: among the refugees currently in Switzerland with protection status, only slightly more than 10% come from oblasts that the federal government now considers safe," said SRF editor Dominik Meier.

The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) will continue to review each Ukrainian application individually. If the SEM rejects an application for protection because the person comes from an oblast where return is considered acceptable, a decision on expulsion will be made.

If, in a specific case, the implementation of such a decision proves to be legally impossible or individually unacceptable, the person will be temporarily allowed to remain in Switzerland.

Ukrainians who are no longer eligible for protection status under the new rules may apply for asylum. Alternatively, they may leave for a EU country.

Background: In September, the EU approved recommendations on the withdrawal of temporary protection status for Ukrainians.

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