The State Secretariat for Migration will temporarily re-enter the Niederscherli civil protection facility in the Bernese municipality of Köniz from mid-November 2026. The opening announced on 15 October concerns 120 beds, which are mainly intended for protection seekers from Ukraine.
The SEM establishes the additional capacity with a slight seasonal increase in new asylum applications. However, the number remains significantly below the level of the previous year. For the year as a whole, the Authority continues to expect some 22’000 asylum applications and some 10’000 requests for protection status S. It is two different application categories, not already achieved annual figures.
The reopening and possible densities are coordinated with the local communities. Further additional accommodation is not currently planned by the SEM.
As early as May, the Authority had announced that six centres would be temporarily shut down from June. Niederscherli should close again as soon as the number of applications dropped.