GENEVA

The Swiss government has invoked a special residential status for Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country, with some 13,000 people already applying, local media reported on Wednesday. 

Ukrainians fleeing the war with Russia will be eligible for a permit called “S” protection, a status not granted before, Swissinfo reported, and some questioned why it had not been used before.

This is the first time the Cabinet has decided to apply S protection status, applicable to refugees, although it has existed for over 20 years.

“The status was designed to deal with conflicts occurring on Europe’s doorstep, even though this is not written into the law, and to deal with a massive influx of refugees,” Swissinfo quoted Sarah Progin-Theuerkauf, a law professor from the University of Fribourg, as saying.

She said Switzerland refused to use it for people fleeing the Arab Spring or the wars in Afghanistan and Syria.

Between 50,000-60,000 Ukrainians could seek protection in Switzerland, Swiss Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said on March 16.

The government said it had allocated 5,000 places in Swiss federal asylum centers for people fleeing the war.

Private citizens have offered some 45,000 places in their homes, according to Swissinfo.

In the case of the Syrian conflict, security considerations played a role, according to Progin-Theuerkauf.

“It preferred to rely on case-by-case procedures to determine who was being persecuted individually, and therefore should be granted refugee status, who should be admitted on a provisional basis, and potential terrorists,” she was quoted as saying.