About 100 refugees have spent months living in civil-defence shelters in the Swiss canton of Vaud, reports RTS. The canton’s migrant reception agency lacks accommodation, and residents say life underground is damaging their health.
One Ukrainian man in his 40s has been staying in a shelter in Clarens between Vevey and Montreux for several months. He says the dirt, poor ventilation, lack of daylight and cramped conditions have become unbearable.
“My health has deteriorated significantly,” he told RTS, Switzerland’s public broadcaster. “I have nightmares. I relive certain scenes from the war.” He decided it would be better to sleep outside instead.
Other young men describe similar difficulties. “It’s very loud in the shelter. I can’t concentrate on my assignments, my projects, my degree,” said a physics student.
The Clarens shelter houses nearly 60 men in three dormitories. Another shelter, in Echallens, accommodates about 50.
Both are reserved for men. Vaud’s migrant reception agency, known as EVAM, says those with health problems are exempt from being housed underground.
According to EVAM, the average stay at the two shelters is just under three months. But the men interviewed by RTS said they had been there for four to six months.
Erich Dürst, EVAM’s director, acknowledges that conditions are far from ideal. “They are acceptable because they are stipulated in the law,” he said. “But the law states that this is only a last resort, when there are no other solutions.” Several organisations, including Swiss Refugee Aid, consider underground civil-defence shelters unsuitable for refugees.
EVAM faces a shortage of accommodation. The number of asylum-seekers has risen since the war in Ukraine began, while Switzerland’s tight housing market offers little relief: fewer than 1% of homes are vacant.
Buildings suitable for communal housing are particularly hard to find. Accommodation must also be distributed fairly across the canton, and a tight budget limits what the agency can afford.
“We are currently looking for 400 places for next year,” said Mr Dürst. If the agency cannot find them, it may open more civil-defence shelters.
Just over 1% of those supported by EVAM live underground. This autumn the agency is housing around 9,000 people: Mainly in flats and communal accommodation. A few others are staying with private hosts through the “Hosting a Migrant” programme.
Making the transition into work, and gaining the freedom that comes with that, has proved difficult for Ukrainians in Switzerland. Only 25.9% of those of working-age in Vaud were employed at the end of 2025. Reported employment rates were far higher in Poland, where 87% of Ukrainian households sourced their income from work. Similarly in the UK, 69% of adults were working in April 2024.
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