Migration

Switzerland and Sweden co-hosted a hybrid high-level pledging event on 16 March for those hit by the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. UN Secretary General António Guterres launched the event. On behalf of Switzerland, President of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis has pledged CHF 14.5 million to further humanitarian aid efforts.

During his trip to the West African country of Niger with National Council President Irène Kälin and ICRC President Peter Maurer, President Ignazio Cassis stopped in the city of Agadez, among other places. The large region is marked by a migration crisis because it is situated on the transit route for refugees and people seeking protection in Europe. The Swiss delegation visited a migration centre in Agadez and a project financed by the ICRC to support people with disabilities.

Thirty years ago, Switzerland recognised the independence of the states of the former Soviet Union. As it set about supporting these countries, it recognised that this was far from a uniform bloc. Switzerland's aim was to support them on the road to democracy and a market economy. A complex challenge and one that Switzerland is rising to: a look back at 30 years of cooperation with Eastern Europe.

Switzerland remains fully committed to the search for a political solution to the Syrian conflict. The decade-long war has left Syria and the region facing a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions. On 30 March, the Fifth EU–UN Conference on Syria took place in Brussels. At the meeting, Deputy State Secretary Johannes Matyassy announced that Switzerland will provide the Syrian people in Syria and the region with CHF 60 million in aid.

On 1 March 2020, the United Nations held a virtual high-level pledging event for the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, co-hosted by the governments of Sweden and Switzerland. The Swiss government was represented for the first time by Ignazio Cassis, Vice President and Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Switzerland has pledged CHF 14 million to support the humanitarian response in Yemen.

The Federal Council has adopted its dispatch on the United Nations Global Compact for Migration, laying the foundations for Parliament to focus more closely on the UN member states' framework for action on international cooperation in the area of migration. The Federal Council concludes that the objectives defined in 2018 are consistent with Switzerland's migration policy priorities.