If you do not count Ukrainians, people coming from the middle East and Africa make up the largest demographical population of asylum seekers in Switzerland. What is surprising officials, is that Morocco is now the third country behind Afghanistant and Turkey. These are mainly asylum seekers coming for economic reasons, and because they do not need a visa to get into Turkey they can join the Afghans, Turks and Syrians making their way to Europe either via the Mediterranean sea or along the Balkan route. So far this year nearly 1000 moroccans have tried to enter the country to apply for asylum, the reality, though, is that their chance of being granted asylum is very slim. Last year only 2 moroccans were given the refugee status.
The government is projecting that up to 30 000 asylum seekers from all areas could be coming to Switzerland this year. This on top of the 66 000 Ukrainians who are already here. This means that more lodgings have to be found. The government has asked parliament to approve a budget of 133 million francs in order to build lodgings, most probably out of shipping containers. This budget would be enough for roughly 3000 container homes. The parliament will be reviewing this budget in the summer session.
Currently there are nearly 700 Ukrainians living in the city of Lucerne in temporary lodgings. By end of this year 380 of these temporary lodging will have to be vacated as both buildings are facing demolition or renovation. The city has yet to find another solution for the Ukrainians, and they are increasingly worried as they forecast that even more refugees will be needing temporary lodgins this year.
The city of Lucerne ended its financial 2022 year with 54 million more in revenue than expected. As a loss of 13.5 million had been forecast, this means that actually the gain is 67.3 million francs. The finance department is warning not to get too excited by this news as costly renovation investments have been forecast for the coming years.
A German tourist decided to make a U-turn in the Gotthard tunnel, this was caught on camera and the man was fined 2000 francs for this offense (and for not having a Swiss Vignette for his car). This is not a one-off, every year some 40 to 50 drivers decide to perform U-turns in the middle of the tunnel. Obviously this is not only super dangerous but all the drivers get fined as security cameras are placed all through the tunnel.
Traffic around the city is going to be complicated this weekend. First of all the LUGA is starting on Saturday so traffic around the Allmend will be dense, but the Luzern Stadtlauf will also take place this Saturday meaning that traffic downtown will be further complicated. Some 12 000 participants have already signed up, but there is still room should you wish to take part in the race, or you can go downtown to simply cheers the runners along!
