Canton of St.Gallen is drastically restricted by freedom of living for refugees!

Canton of St.Gallen is drastically restricted by freedom of living for refugees!

Kirchberg, Schweiz - In the canton of St.Gallen, the freedom of living for refugees who receive social assistance is severely limited. Today, on June 4, 2025, this was decided on the cantonal council and referred to as "Lex Bazenheid". The relevant parties SVP and Mitte-EVP prevailed against the votes of the FDP and SP-Grünen-GLP. The change in the law is intended to serve the distribution of refugees in the communities more fairly, especially in heavily burdened communities such as Kirchberg, where there were large communities from the same country of origin, which made integration difficult. However, critics are considered to be problematic on the inside, since according to an expert opinion from the University of Freiburg, it could violate both international and federal law. Social Director Laura Bucher of the SP expressed concerns, but pointed out that the majority of the council seems to be irrelevant, since she supported the legal review by another report by a former federal judge, Hansjörg Seiler, which affirmed the feasibility of the law.

But how does the regulation work exactly? Recognized refugees who receive social assistance can no longer determine their place of residence themselves. You only receive emergency aid while you are excluded with a state referring to social assistance. This leads to a clear separation between refugees who are already integrated or are in a precarious location. A rejection application from the FDP was rejected with 66 to 47 votes, which has reinforced the resentment of invitation to the meeting - only affected may be invited here.

legal foundations and reactions

The government sees the new regulation a measure that is contrary to federal and international law. The report from the University of Freiburg also focuses on the principle of equal treatment, while SVP and Mitte-EVP criticized government policy as a "refusal to work" in the debate. The SP-Grüne-GLP faction proposes alternative solutions on how equivalents on financial equalization and incentive systems for distributing refugees.

The legal structure around the asylum area in Switzerland is regulated by federal law. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) at the federal level is responsible for this; At the cantonal level, various offices take care of the proper execution of these laws. An asylum seeker may remain in the country until his request has been decided, but the integration can be made more difficult by these new laws. This could also have an impact on temporary refugees who are under the same regulations as their recognized college: inside.

perspectives and outlook

The discussion about the distribution of refugees continues, whereby the majority of the council commissioned the government to examine a fair distribution and to improve the exchange of information between the migration office and the communities. The proposals of the United St.Gallen Party (VSGP) and the meeting of the Intergemizing Group (TISG) are to be brought into the Council in autumn.

Despite all the resistance, the SP announces that it will get to the Federal Supreme Court in the event of a transfer of the law. The legal consequences could be far -reaching, not only for the canton, but possibly for the entire Switzerland, where the asylum procedure and the social support of refugees are linked by various legal regulations - from social integration to the question of which rights are actually entitled to the refugees.

Where the trip for the refugees is going now remains to be seen, but the coming time could be groundbreaking for many. And so the canton of St.Gallen, on the one hand, is faced with a fair distribution of refugees, on the other hand, but also before the challenge of protecting humanitarian standards.