According to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) the decline in applications is largely due to two factors. First, a drop in migration along the central Mediterranean route from mid-July onwards.
Second, fewer migrant arrivals from conflict zones like Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, which were quite significant at the beginning of 2016.
The majority of asylum applications came from Eritrea with 3,375 requests. However, this represents a decline of nearly 35% over one year. Syria came next with 1,951 applications (-9%), followed by Afghanistan with 1,217 requests (-62%), Turkey with 852 requests (+62%), Somalia with 843 (-46.7) and Sri Lanka with 840 (-38.8%).
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Swiss need more asylum detention places, say authorities
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Switzerland must increase its number of administrative detention spots by 50%, according to judicial and police authorities.
Should Switzerland take measures to support its struggling industries?
Industrial policies are back in fashion, not only in the United States but also in the EU. Should Switzerland, where various industries are struggling, draw inspiration from such policies?
Milei orders Argentina’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization
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Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, has announced plans to pull the country out of the Geneva-headquartered World Health Organization (WHO).
‘Europe’ initiative halts signature collection to focus on Swiss-EU treaty
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The initiative sought to embed Swiss-EU relations in the Federal Constitution, but the organisers have now stopped signature collection.
Swiss study sheds light on link between obesity and metabolic diseases
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ETH Zurich researchers collected cells from overweight individuals to identify biological markers that raise the risk of metabolic diseases.
Swiss retail sector sees slight decline despite strong online sales
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Black Friday, which performed well in some areas of Switzerland, and Christmas sales could not make up for the losses of previous months.
Over 6,000 Swiss companies go bankrupt but start-ups see growth
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Switzerland recorded a spike in bankruptcies last year, but there was also a rise in new start-ups. Trends varied significantly by region and sector.
Basel greenlights funding for Eurovision Village 2025
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MCH Group Ltd. is set to receive CHF1 million ($1.1 million) for the Eurovision Village at the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Basel.
Geneva researchers discover potential for targeted cancer drug delivery
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Researchers in Geneva have discovered how some bacteria inject dangerous enzymes into cells, potentially enabling targeted drug delivery to cancer cells.
Macron denies involvement in Nestlé Waters scandal
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French President Emmanuel Macron denied any “agreement” or “collusion” with the Swiss company Nestlé over the bottled water scandal on Tuesday.
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Germany deports more asylum seekers back to Switzerland
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The last few years has seen a rising number of people transiting through Switzerland in order to claim asylum in Germany. But the German authorities appear to have had enough. In the first eight months of this year, the number of deportation requests (1,875) back to Switzerland has risen 70% on 2016. Switzerland is also…
Hundreds of young asylum seekers disappear in Switzerland
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Over 500 unaccompanied minors dropped off the radars of official Swiss agencies last year – a major increase on the previous year.
Swiss need more asylum detention places, say authorities
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Switzerland must increase its number of administrative detention spots by 50%, according to judicial and police authorities.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.