Solidary refugee policy of the City of Zurich 

In view of the dramatic refugee situation as a result of the Syrian war, the City Council of Zurich launched an action programme in September 2015 that includes local and international interventions.

The city's international commitment aims to sustainably support a so-called "first flight city" in Lebanon in overcoming the municipal challenges posed by the immigration of refugees since 2011. The specific potential of direct cooperation between cities comes into play: On the one hand, the mutual exchange of knowledge and experience among locally well-anchored experts, on the other hand, the pragmatic solution orientation in dealing with the given challenges.

Zurich's commitment does not focus its support on Syrian refugees, but takes into account the local population as a whole – including Syrian refugees!

Challenging (refugee) situation in Lebanon

Most Syrians who have fled abroad since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011 have sought protection in neighbouring countries, particularly lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq. Of these approximately 6 million Syrian refugees, around 1.4 million are still in Lebanon at the end of the decade.

With a population of about 4 million people, Lebanon is now the country that has taken in by far the most refugees in proportion to the population. Even by the consequences of a long civil war, by repeated military interventions by its neighbors, by chronic political instability and by a poorly intact infrastructure, this country does an enormous amount in the reception of refugees – especially individual cities and municipalities.

Concretization of Zurich's commitment

Three rapid interventions at municipal level

From 2016 to 2017, the City of Zurich supported three so-called "Community Support Projects", which were carried out in cooperation with the Swiss aid organization Solidar Suisse in the vicinity of the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh. It was about the renovation of a school in Houmine el Fawqa with the aim of being able to take in more Syrian refugee children, as well as the renovation and equipment of a hospital in Kaakyet El Jeser. Furthermore, the construction of a groundwater well in Qsaibet. Due to the strong increase in population, there was no longer enough clean drinking water available.

Establishment of a sustainable project partnership with the city of Tyre

Since 2017, the City of Zurich has been developing a project partnership with the southern Lebanese port city of Tyros. At the heart of the temporary partnership is the exchange between experts from Zurich and Tyre. The mutual exchange promotes the expertise of the experts involved. This benefits the two city governments/administrations and indirectly the urban population.

In terms of content, the exchange of experts relates primarily to the topic of "mobility", secondarily to the topic of "refugee reception". Even though the framework conditions in Zurich are very different from those in Tyros, everyone involved can benefit a lot from an exchange on an equal footing. When it comes to exchanging views on topics of "mobility", Tyros benefits more from Zurich, while when it comes to exchanging views on topics relating to "refugee reception", Zurich is more likely to benefit from Tyros.

The project partnership between Zurich and Tyros is supported organisationally and in terms of content by the "UN Habitat Lebanon" office.

Study trips to Tyre and Zurich on the subject of "refugee reception"

As part of the project partnership, "experts in refugee reception" are also to thoroughly discuss and understand the other situation on the ground. In autumn 2019 and April 2020, a delegation of around 15 people from Zurich will exchange views with local experts for 5 days in Tyros. In the summer of 2020, a counter-exchange with a delegation of around 15 people from Tyre will take place in Zurich.

The City of Zurich invites people who have dealt intensively with topics of international refugee migration and local refugee admission over a longer period of time in a more demanding professional position, in a scientific activity or in a political commitment to apply to participate in a study trip. Further information can be found in the call for applications.