Integration and migration

Support for refugees in Switzerland

Refugees face a number of challenges in Switzerland. They have survived violence, war and exile and, once in Switzerland, they have lost their familiar bearings.

The SRC Outpatient Clinic for Victims of Torture & War looks after trauma victims. We also continued to develop the SRC Sui app, which covers a large number of topics about living in Switzerland, family life, and physical and mental health.

Coping with everyday life in a conflict zone

The SRC provided support for the national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in Ukraine and Sudan. In both these countries, we shifted our efforts from humanitarian aid for the people displaced by the conflict to improving institutional capacity.

With SRC support, these two sister societies were able to distribute vital financial assistance to several thousand people. The households receiving this aid were therefore able to buy whatever they needed most: food, medicines or care services. In Sudan and Ukraine, the national societies were able to expand their psychosocial support programmes for children.

In Central America, the SRC helped its sister societies in Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama to cope with migrant challenges.

The SRC Outpatient Clinic for Victims of Torture & War celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2025. An open day and articles in the media and online highlighted the challenges of its work and raised public awareness of its services.

People who have endured war, exile, detention and torture have often experienced or witnessed unspeakable violence. This has an extremely detrimental effect on their health and daily lives, and hinders their smooth integration into society. This may result in depression, physical pain, panic attacks, memory issues, troubled sleep or social isolation, which takes a toll on the lives of both the victims and their loved ones. Without suitable treatment, the symptoms may worsen and become chronic.

Psychological and social support

At the Outpatient Clinic, patients receive specialized psychotherapeutic support and social counselling, with interpreters to help them express themselves. Almost half of the patients in the clinic are under 26 years of age. Taking therapeutic measures early on is particularly important in children and teenagers, as they are still developing.

Raising awareness of survivors’ experiences is also part of the clinic’s remit, as a society and a support network that show understanding can help them rebuild normal lives. The 30th anniversary was an opportunity to conduct communications campaigns through the press and social media.

Celebration in Wabern

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, on 18 September the clinic opened its doors to around 130 donors, sponsors, specialists and political figures, providing them with a realistic insight into its work.

Pioneering service

The Outpatient Clinic, located in Wabern near Bern, was the first institution of its kind in Switzerland. Its patients are currently from Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria, Sri Lanka, Iran and Iraq.

Last year, we expanded the scope of the SRC Sui app, which is a free resource for refugees. Five new language versions were published, along with a new module about bereavement.

More coverage in French-speaking Switzerland

Last spring, the Sui app was published in French, English and Ukrainian.

The professionals and volunteers working with refugees play a crucial intermediary role in spreading the word about the app among the target audience. The app acts as a supplement and support for the therapy and counselling they provide for refugees in this country.

Farsi and Turkish added to Arabic, English and Ukrainian

Towards the end of last year, the app was published in Farsi and Turkish. Along with Arabic, which has been available since 2024, Ukrainian and English, we now consider that 75% of Switzerland’s refugee population can now use the app in one of their main languages. This is especially important because many refugees have a large number of questions and a great deal of mental stress when they first arrive in Switzerland, long before they manage to master one of our national languages.

Their fellow refugees also help them out in their own language in the app’s chat function: they listen, reassure and explain, but also refer the new arrivals to services that can help with health and integration issues.

New module on bereavement

In addition to the various topics about living in Switzerland, family life and physical and mental health, the app now features a bereavement module that we published last year. It includes exercises, case studies, emergency contact numbers, points for reflection, and advice on how to move forward despite the loss of loved ones.

Once again in 2025, many of the students on the SRC nursing auxiliary course had a migration background and the course gave them low-threshold access to the job market, thereby contributing to their integration into Swiss society and working life here.

This opportunity is particularly appealing to those returning to the job market or changing careers. The SRC nursing auxiliary course can therefore also help meet the continuing high demand for qualified staff in long-term care facilities, home care organizations and other healthcare services. The proportion of people from migrant backgrounds is on the rise. This trend shows that the course offers an attractive development opportunity, particularly for migrants.

Support provides security

The course provides a broad range of support services. Language programmes, study forums and other supportive course formats make it easier to take part, while enabling participants to acquire the necessary technical and language skills. This helps them successfully complete the course and enter the job market quickly. The qualification improves their chances of securing stable employment and is a step towards more advanced qualifications in the healthcare sector.

The SRC provides technical and financial assistance to help five national societies in Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama cope with migrant challenges.

Support for returnees

For example, the Guatemalan Red Cross (GRC), which assists migrants deported from the USA or Mexico. Every month, several thousand people are sent back to Guatemala. With no livelihood and burdened by the debt of their journey, they find themselves in desperate situations that often plunge their whole family into poverty. It assists the most vulnerable, working in close cooperation with the Guatemalan government, which has delegated this task to the GRC. The 21 local Red Cross sections assist returnees and migrants crossing the country, providing psychosocial support, medical care, water, blankets and hygiene products, and helping them to secure a livelihood.

Extreme poverty

Guatemalans migrate for a host of reasons: structural inequalities, a lack of prospects and poverty, exacerbated by the effects of climate change. Nearly half of Guatemala’s population cannot afford basic foodstuffs. Poverty is particularly prevalent in rural areas. To lift their families out of poverty, many people leave to seek work in the USA, often risking their lives in the process.

From its origins in 2017, the partnership between the SRC and the Ukrainian Red Cross (URC) has transformed into close collaboration. The escalation in the conflict four years ago required us to adapt our activities to meet the needs of the emergency. There has thus been a shift from immediate humanitarian aid to strengthening the institutional capacity of the Ukrainian Red Cross, to enable it to provide long-term services.

Air-raid shelters

At the headquarters in Kyiv, the SRC helped set up a local team of fundraising professionals. They developed a fundraising strategy so that the URC could respond to growing humanitarian needs.

In zones that are particularly exposed to attack, such as Sumy and Kherson, the SRC is providing support for the local Red Cross, for example by providing hygiene kits, and helping to repair air-raid shelters in schools and healthcare facilities.

Support for the most vulnerable

Last year, we continued to focus on support for vulnerable people, by helping to develop the URC’s home care services for elderly, sick and isolated individuals. In western (Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil) and central (Kirovohrad) Ukraine, activity workshops help to support the mental health of elderly people and children, whose daily lives have been severely disrupted by the conflict.

To help people displaced by the conflict enter the labour market, micro-enterprises have been given subsidies and vocational training programmes have been set up. Unable to return to their homes, they are severely lacking in resources to meet their daily needs. Elderly or disabled people, but also single-parent families, receive vouchers to cover some of their essential needs.

The SRC continued to support the Sudanese Red Crescent emergency aid efforts by helping to strengthen its logistics and technical capabilities. It organized a training workshop in Nairobi and supervised the launch of a fundraising platform.

Providing basic necessities

The conflict has forced 12 million people from their homes. Throughout the country, 80% of medical infrastructure has been destroyed. The SRC is assisting the local Red Crescent in El Obeid, the main city in North Kordofan, where 65 000 families have taken refuge, helping it to provide water, medical care and psychosocial support for displaced persons.

The Sudanese Red Crescent staff and volunteers helped build 23 water supply systems, renovate 57 latrine blocks and install 28 handwashing facilities, with funding from the Swiss Red Cross. They also distribute mosquito nets and hygiene kits to prevent infections with dengue fever and cholera. Psychosocial support training was given to 110 volunteers.

Financial assistance

The Sudanese Red Crescent distributes cash assistance to the most vulnerable displaced families. The Swiss Red Cross supported two cash assistance projects in Sheikan in North Kordofan and in Sinkat in Red Sea State. This enabled 3500 households to buy whatever they most urgently needed.

Healthcare centres for mothers and children

In North Kordofan, the SRC continued to equip five medical centres to improve the health of pregnant women, babies and infants. Volunteers were trained in maternal and infant health.
Medical staff and midwives were also given training courses. Emphasis was also placed on psychosocial support, and play and activity areas were set up for the children.