Simonetta Sommaruga expects a significant long-term cost-saving effect from accelerated social and labor integration of refugees
As reported by the portal Swissinfo.ch, the minister noted that the cantons, which are obliged by federal quotas to accept and accommodate limited contingents of migrants and refugees, have long complained about the lack of financial resources needed to fulfill their obligations to the center in the migration sphere. And now Simonetta Sommaruga has presented her action plan, developed together with the cantons.
Let us clarify immediately to avoid misunderstandings and unintentional (and sometimes deliberate) distortions that under current legislation, the federal budget in Switzerland allocates to the cantons a one-time subsidy of 6,000 francs for each refugee they accept. Now it has been decided to triple this amount to 18,000 francs, which will increase federal spending on the reception and accommodation of forced migrants by an additional 132 million francs.
However, in the long term, the federal government and cantons expect a significant cost-saving effect from accelerated social and, most importantly, labor integration of refugees. According to the Swiss government, in the end, every additional franc allocated to migrant integration will return up to 4 francs in profit to the treasury.
And most importantly, social support and insurance structures will be significantly relieved, which is logical: if a refugee is not on welfare but working, they begin to benefit the host country.
Recall that in Switzerland, a country of consistent federalism, budgets allocated for social support of vulnerable groups are under the jurisdiction of the cantons, which thus have a vested interest in the accelerated labor integration of migrants. The federal government, on the one hand, reimburses the cantons for social expenses on refugees, but only for 5 years per refugee and 7 years per 'temporarily admitted' person.
Simonetta Sommaruga expects that if the rate of the 'one-time integration subsidy' (Integrationspauschale) is increased, the budgets of cantonal social services will be largely relieved and spared from having to pay for migrant integration projects.
She assumes that in most cases, refugee integration is successful and that at least 70% of migrants and temporarily admitted persons of working age are fully capable of starting work in Switzerland, supporting themselves and their families financially.
Switzerland is a country of federalism, which also has negative aspects. Regarding the organization of social and labor integration of refugees, the situation in this area currently varies greatly 'from canton to canton'. The federal government, on the one hand, prescribes to the cantons a uniform catalog of integration measures mandatory for all federal subjects.
For example, cantons are required to pay special attention to refugees learning the official languages of the country. At the federal level in Switzerland, there are three: German, French, Italian, plus Romansh, which is enshrined in the constitution as the fourth official language at the regional level. There are no 'state' languages in the legal sense of the term in Switzerland.
Nevertheless, different cantons approach this task with varying degrees of thoroughness. Therefore, Simonetta Sommaruga now proposes to place language issues at the center of the entire process of socio-labor integration of refugees. Assessing their language potential should begin immediately after their arrival in the Confederation and continue, accompanied by specially trained expert consultants, until the migrant gains the ability to communicate in the local language independently.
The federal government and cantons have also reached a consensus on the distribution of costs for the reception and integration of unaccompanied minor refugees. According to them, the daily cost rate per person in this area is 100 francs. Of this amount, 86 francs will be allocated from the federal budget, and the remaining funds will come from the budget of the respective canton.
Accordingly, the Federal Council has decided to increase the amount of corresponding targeted subsidies allocated to cantons from the federal budget for these purposes. For 2018, under this project, the center will allocate an additional 30 million francs to the cantons. Over the next two years, the center and cantons will conduct an audit of the situation in this area in order to make the system for receiving and integrating unaccompanied minor refugees more efficient, less bureaucratic, and more focused on their successful labor and social integration in Switzerland.