According to newly released data, several migrant groups of different national origins in Switzerland have welfare dependency rates well above 50 per cent, with over 80 per cent of Somalis in the country taking state handouts.
The data was gathered and released by both the Federal Statistical Office and the State Secretariat for Migration and shows that the 4,000 or so Somalis in Switzerland are by far the most prone to being on government benefits with 83.7 per cent relying
on state income, 20 Minutes reports. While Somalis are by far and wide the largest recipients of welfare, several other nationalities also have rates of over 50 per cent, such as Eritreans at 54.7 per cent and Angolans at 54 per cent.
The statistics greatly contrast with the number of Swiss nationals on welfare, at a mere 2.3 per cent of the population — although Japanese nationals were the lowest of all at only 0.6 per cent.
Damian M. of the Swiss Liberals said that the figures show that both far too many asylum seekers not qualified for asylum were living on state handouts and that not enough was being done to integrate those with refugee status into the Swiss economy.