Confederation temporarily closes six asylum centers

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• The State Secretariat for Migration is temporarily closing six federal asylum centers in several cantons.
• The reason for this is that the number of asylum applications is significantly lower than expected.
• The federal government is taking this measure to save costs and carry out maintenance work.

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The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) announced the temporary closure of six federal asylum centers on Thursday. The reason for this is the low number of asylum applications in the first few months of the year.

As fewer asylum seekers are arriving than expected, the federal government is closing six centers in Thônex GE, Niederscherli BE, Aesch BL, Arlesheim BL, Sulgen TG and Chiasso TI, as announced by the SEM. The aim is to save costs and use the time for maintenance work.

The measure will apply for several weeks from mid-June at the latest. There are currently 30 federal asylum centers with around 7000 places in operation throughout Switzerland. After the summer vacations, the authorities will review the forecast and react accordingly.

The temporary closure of the centers will reduce operating capacity by around 700 places. The number of asylum applications in the first four months of the year was almost 20 percent below the previous year's figures. At the beginning of 2026, the SEM had expected 25,000 applications for the whole year.