On 21 November 2025 Switzerland and Cyprus signed a framework agreement in Nicosia that will channel CHF 10 million into accommodation, voluntary-return and integration projects for migrants on the Mediterranean island.
Funded under Switzerland’s second contribution to selected EU member states, the programme will focus on building reception facilities for unaccompanied minor asylum-seekers (UMAs) and expanding reintegration counselling for migrants who choose to return home. The Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) says the money will be disbursed through international partners such as the NGO Hope for Children and the International Organization for Migration.
![Switzerland and Cyprus Sign CHF 10 Million Migration-Cooperation Agreement]()
Cyprus has one of the EU’s highest per-capita asylum-application rates and has struggled with overcrowded reception centres. Swiss officials argue that investing upstream eases pressure on Switzerland’s own asylum system by improving conditions and speeding up returns in frontline states. The initiative complements earlier Swiss-funded projects in Greece and Italy and underscores Bern’s preference for pragmatic bilateral cooperation rather than large EU trust funds.
For Swiss employers the agreement has two indirect benefits. First, better facilities in Cyprus could accelerate Dublin-transfer procedures, reducing the likelihood that asylum-seekers whose claims fall under Cypriot responsibility travel onward to Switzerland. Second, the voluntary-return component may become a template for reintegration grants that Switzerland could one day extend to rejected asylum-seekers at home, shortening appeals and freeing up cantonal accommodation.
Projects will run until 2029, with annual audits by both governments. The SEM plans to publish a first impact report in late 2026.
Funded under Switzerland’s second contribution to selected EU member states, the programme will focus on building reception facilities for unaccompanied minor asylum-seekers (UMAs) and expanding reintegration counselling for migrants who choose to return home. The Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) says the money will be disbursed through international partners such as the NGO Hope for Children and the International Organization for Migration.
Cyprus has one of the EU’s highest per-capita asylum-application rates and has struggled with overcrowded reception centres. Swiss officials argue that investing upstream eases pressure on Switzerland’s own asylum system by improving conditions and speeding up returns in frontline states. The initiative complements earlier Swiss-funded projects in Greece and Italy and underscores Bern’s preference for pragmatic bilateral cooperation rather than large EU trust funds.
For Swiss employers the agreement has two indirect benefits. First, better facilities in Cyprus could accelerate Dublin-transfer procedures, reducing the likelihood that asylum-seekers whose claims fall under Cypriot responsibility travel onward to Switzerland. Second, the voluntary-return component may become a template for reintegration grants that Switzerland could one day extend to rejected asylum-seekers at home, shortening appeals and freeing up cantonal accommodation.
Projects will run until 2029, with annual audits by both governments. The SEM plans to publish a first impact report in late 2026.
