https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/en/2022/03/fleeing-to-switzerland/
BlogSchweizerisches Nationalmuseum. Musée national suisse. Museo nazionale svizzero. Museum naziunal svizzer
Hungarian refugees in Buchs, 1956.
The war between Russia and Ukraine is driving people westwards. But Switzerland is an old hand at helping refugees from Eastern Europe, as a look back at the past shows.
Nada Boškovska is Professor of Eastern European History at the University of Zurich.
Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine has resulted in a wave of refugees from within European unlike anything the continent has seen since World War II. The vast majority of those who have fled are finding refuge in Poland. Many will stay there if they can, and hope to return to their homes soon. A small proportion of the people who have had to leave everything behind will come to Switzerland.Switzerland has a long tradition of taking in refugees and exiles from Eastern Europe. In the 19th century, it was political emigrés from Tsarist Russia who found a home here and continued their revolutionary struggle, usually verbally, and in some cases even setting off a few bombs. Lenin and the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin are just the most recognisable names in a long list.After the October Revolution of 1917, 5,000 to 6,000 Swiss-Russians left the collapsed Tsarist Empire. They lost everything they weren’t carrying with them; many had great difficulty gaining a foothold in Switzerland, and were dependent on assistance. The fate of these returnees stirred up lasting resentment in Swiss society against both Russia and Communism, while many of the newcomers mourned the happy lives they’d had in the Tsarist Empire. Often they had established successful livelihoods as cheesemakers, confectioners, winegrowers, governesses and business operators, among other things.With the expansion of Soviet hegemony after World War II, anti-communism and Russophobia continued to grow in Switzerland, to such an extent that in 1962 the Swiss Ambassador in Washington expressed concern about the country’s neutrality: “I think there is a threat [to neutrality] that comes from Switzerland. There are not very many people in the USA who read Swiss newspapers. Those who do are wondering whether the distinct anti-Russian sentiment among the Swiss public might not undermine Switzerland’s role as a mediator. […] After years of watching McCarthyism slackening off in America, the Americans are sorry to see its resurgence in Switzerland.” The suppression of the Hungarian uprising by the Red Army in autumn 1956 undoubtedly contributed to this “distinct sentiment”. More than 200,000 Hungarians fled abroad, and around 13,000 were accepted with open arms in Switzerland as a “contingent”, that is, without individual asylum procedures. From the Swiss point of view, the integration of this small, mostly well-educated group with no prospect of returning home was a success.
In August 1968, the world experienced déjà vu: troops, this time from the Warsaw Pact countries, crushed the Prague Spring. As a result, tens of thousands of Czechoslovakian citizens left the country, while others who were already abroad – on holiday in Yugoslavia, for example – didn’t go home again. Around 12,000 Czechs and Slovaks came to Switzerland, and met with the same unbureaucratic and helpful welcome as the Hungarians had before them. This new crop of well-qualified refugees was likewise quickly absorbed by the labour market, and the process is regarded as an example of good integration. For the vast majority of Swiss people, the refugees from Hungary and Czechoslovakia were the first people from socialist Eastern Europe with whom they had come into contact. Both refugee groups expressed their gratitude for their warm welcome and easy acceptance. For its part, Switzerland consolidated its self-image as a country, and a society, with a humanitarian tradition.Switzerland experienced a much larger influx in the 1990s as a result of the Yugoslav wars of secession. Although asylum applications at the time skyrocketed to unprecedented levels, most people came not as refugees, but as part of family reunification schemes – around 173,000 Yugoslavs already lived in Switzerland in 1990. People who had left their families in Yugoslavia and come to Switzerland as Gastarbeiter (guest workers) now brought their loved ones to join them here; by 2000, the population of permanent residents from the successor states of Yugoslavia had more than doubled to 362,000. But the great waves of exodus and displacement, particularly from Bosnia-Herzegovina (1992-1995) and Kosovo (1999), also meant that – in addition to individual asylum – around 25,000 refugees from Bosnia and, in 1999, 20,000 from Kosovo received a “collective provisional admission”. Except in cases of hardship, they were required to return home once hostilities ended.Given the flows of refugees from Ukraine, many people are now reminded of 1956 and 1968. However, on both those occasions the events were uprisings that were rapidly put down; the armies of Hungary and Czechoslovakia were not involved. The Ukrainians are fleeing a war for which there is currently no end in sight. Able-bodied men are not allowed to leave the country, so it’s mainly women, children and older men who are fleeing. The main destination country is neighbouring Poland, where many Ukrainians already live as migrant workers. If, after the war ends, returning home is not possible or is not desirable for these refugees given the political situation, Poland would be a long-term option for many, partly because of the linguistic and cultural proximity to Ukraine, and especially since Poland can use the extra workers. Just now, it’s hard to say how many Ukrainians will come to Switzerland. This is not a primary target country, by any means; in 2020, only 7,000 people with Ukrainian citizenship lived in Switzerland. Anyone who does come here can be assured of an empathetic and supportive reception from the people of Switzerland, and comparatively uncomplicated dealings with the authorities. For the first time, the protection status “S” is being activated. This status gives the Ukrainian refugees a right of residence in Switzerland; they can join their family members and seek gainful employment, and they’ll also be entitled to social assistance and medical care. In this respect Switzerland is joining the EU, which has already brought into effect a corresponding directive on temporary protection.
博客瑞士国家博物馆。瑞士国家博物馆。瑞士国家博物馆。瑞士国家博物馆
1956年布克斯的匈牙利难民。
俄罗斯和乌克兰之间的战争正在驱使人们向西逃离。但是，瑞士在帮助来自东欧的难民方面有着悠久的经验，回顾过去可以看到这一点。
Nada Boškovska是苏黎世大学的东欧历史教授。
弗拉基米尔·普京对乌克兰的侵略战争导致了一波来自欧洲内部的难民潮，这是自第二次世界大战以来欧洲所见过的前所未有的规模。大多数逃离的人在波兰找到了庇护所。如果可能的话，许多人将留在那里，并希望尽快返回家园。那些被迫离开一切的人中只有一小部分会来到瑞士。瑞士长期以来一直有接纳来自东欧的难民和流亡者的传统。
在19世纪，来自沙俄的政治移民在这里找到了家园，并继续他们的革命斗争，通常是言辞上的，有时甚至引爆几颗炸弹。列宁和无政府主义者米哈伊尔·巴库宁只是一个长长名单中最著名的名字。
1917年十月革命之后，5000至6000名瑞士俄罗斯人离开了崩溃的沙俄帝国。他们失去了除了随身携带的一切，许多人在瑞士很难立足，并且依赖援助。这些回国人的命运在瑞士社会中引起了持久的反俄罗斯和反共产主义情绪，而许多新来者则对他们在沙俄帝国的幸福生活表示哀悼。
通常情况下，他们已经在奶酪制造商、糖果制造商、葡萄种植者、家庭教师和商业经营者等方面建立了成功的生计。二战后苏联霸权的扩张使得瑞士的反共主义和俄罗斯恐惧症继续增长，以至于1962年瑞士驻美大使对该国的中立性表示担忧：“我认为瑞士存在一种来自威胁[中立性]的威胁。美国没有很多人读瑞士报纸。那些读的人正在纳闷瑞士公众对俄罗斯的鲜明情绪是否会削弱瑞士的中介角色。[...]在美国几年观察到麦卡锡主义逐渐消退之后，看到它在瑞士复苏，美国人感到遗憾。”
1956年秋季，红军镇压了匈牙利起义，这无疑对这种“鲜明情绪”起到了推动作用。超过20万名匈牙利人逃到国外，大约有1.3万人在瑞士作为“定额”受到热情款待，即没有个别庇护程序。从瑞士的观点来看，这个小型的、大多数受过良好教育的群体在没有返回家园的前景下的融入是成功的。
1968年8月，全世界再次经历了似曾相识的感觉：这一次，华沙公约国家的军队镇压了布拉格之春。结果，成千上万的捷克斯洛伐克公民离开了这个国家，而其他已经在国外的人，例如在南斯拉夫度假的人，没有回家。大约有1.2万名捷克斯洛伐克人来到瑞士，并受到了与之前的匈牙利人一样的非官僚和乐于助人的欢迎。这批新的高素质难民也很快被劳动力市场吸收，这一过程被视为良好融入的一个例子。对于绝大多数瑞士人来说，来自匈牙利和捷克斯洛伐克的难民是他们与社会主义东欧人第一次接触。这两个难民群体都对他们热情的接待和容易的接纳表示感激。瑞士巩固了一个具有人道主义传统的国家和社会的自我形象。
由于南斯拉夫分裂战争，瑞士在1990年代经历了规模更大的涌入。尽管当时的寻求庇护申请数量飙升到前所未有的水平，但大多数人来到瑞士不是作为难民，而是作为家庭团聚计划的一部分-1990年时，约有17.3万名南斯拉夫人已经在瑞士居住。那些将家人留在南斯拉夫并作为客工来到瑞士的人现在将他们的亲人带到这里；到2000年，来自南斯拉夫继任国的常驻居民人口增长了一倍多，达到了36.2万人。但是，大规模的逃离和流离失所，特别是从波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那（1992-1995）以及科索沃（1999）来的，也意味着-除了个别庇护-大约有2.5万名来自波斯尼亚和1999年的科索沃的难民获得了“集体临时准许”。除非出现困难情况，否则他们需要在敌对行动结束后返回家园。
鉴于乌克兰难民的涌入，现在许多人想起了1956年和1968年。然而，在那两次事件中，事件是迅速被镇压的起义；匈牙利和捷克斯洛伐克的军队没有参与其中。乌克兰人正在逃离一场目前看不到结束的战争。只有健壮的男性被允许离开乌克兰，所以主要是妇女、儿童和年长的男性在逃离。主要目的地国是邻国波兰，已经有许多乌克兰人作为劳工移民在那里居住。如果战争结束后这些难民不能或不愿意返回家园，波兰将成为许多人的长期选择，部分原因是与乌克兰的语言和文化接近，特别是因为波兰可以利用额外的劳工。
现在很难说有多少乌克兰人会来瑞士。这绝不是首选目的国；2020年，只有7000名乌克兰公民在瑞士居住。任何来到这里的人都可以确保得到瑞士人民的同情和支持，以及与当局相对简单的来往。保护状态“S”首次被激活。这一地位赋予乌克兰难民在瑞士的居留权；他们可以与家人团聚并寻求获得收入，还可以享受社会援助和医疗保健。在这方面，瑞士加入了已经实施了有关临时保护的欧盟，该保护已经实施了相应的指令。