A ship carrying 78 migrants is rescued off the Canary Islands.Image: keystone
July 16, 2026, 1:55 p.mJuly 16, 2026, 1:55 p.m
Significantly fewer asylum applications were submitted in Switzerland in the first half of 2026 than in the same period last year. In total, the federal government registered 9,734 applications, which corresponds to a decrease of 16 percent.
In June 2026, 1,777 asylum applications were made, as the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) announced on Thursday. This was 20 percent less than in June of last year, but nine percent more than in the previous month of May. The SEM explained the decline compared to the previous year with lower arrival numbers in southern Italy and fewer requests from Turkish nationals.
Most of the requests in June came from people from Afghanistan (456). This was followed by Eritrea with 222, Algeria with 175, Turkey with 140 and Somalia with 139 applications.
In the reporting month, the SEM decided on 2,235 asylum applications and granted asylum in almost a third of the cases. In addition, 872 people left Switzerland under control. Of these, 527 people left independently, while 345 people were returned to their home country or a third country. (nil/sda)