Refugees in Vaud say months in underground shelters are harming their health

Around 100 refugees have spent months living underground in Vaud, where a shortage of accommodation has pushed people seeking protection into civil-defence shelters. Residents told RTS that the conditions are affecting their health. In Clarens, a Ukrainian man in his 40s described dirt, poor ventilation, little daylight and cramped quarters. He said he had begun sleeping outside because the shelter had become unbearable. “My health has deteriorated significantly. I have nightmares. I relive certain scenes from the war,” he told the broadcaster. His account gives a human scale to a housing problem that has left people who fled war living in facilities built for emergencies. The canton’s migrant reception agency, EVAM, runs the placements. Its director says the agency uses underground accommodation only when it cannot find another solution, while the immediate pressure to secure more places remains.

Nearly 60 men share the Clarens shelter’s three dormitories, while another about 50 stay at a shelter in Echallens. Both facilities are reserved for men. A physics student living in Clarens said the noise made it hard to keep up with his studies. “It’s very loud in the shelter. I can’t concentrate on my assignments, my projects, my degree,” he told RTS. The effects go beyond discomfort: one resident described nightmares and memories of war, while the student said he could not focus on his degree work. EVAM says people with health problems are exempt from being housed underground. Yet the men interviewed by RTS said they had stayed for four to six months, longer than the agency’s average of just under three months at the two shelters. The difference between that average and the stays residents described shows how long some people can remain in emergency accommodation.

EVAM director Erich Dürst acknowledges that the conditions are far from ideal. “They are acceptable because they are stipulated in the law,” he told RTS. “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 says the average stay at Clarens and Echallens is just under three months, although residents interviewed by RTS reported stays of four to six months. The agency faces a limited supply of buildings suitable for communal housing, and accommodation must be distributed across the canton. A tight budget further restricts its options. Dürst said EVAM is looking for 400 places for next year. If it cannot secure them, the agency may open more civil-defence shelters. The search for places is therefore central to whether people can move out of underground accommodation.

Just over 1% of the around 9,000 people EVAM is housing this autumn live underground. Most stay in flats or communal accommodation; some are hosted privately through the “Hosting a Migrant” programme. That small share still represents around 100 people facing months in civil-defence shelters, as the agency works to find additional capacity. The wider housing market offers little relief: fewer than 1% of homes are vacant in Switzerland, according to the linked housing report. Employment also remains a challenge for Ukrainians seeking greater independence. At the end of 2025, 25.9% of working-age people with temporary protection in Vaud were employed. The report compares that with 87% of Ukrainian households sourcing income from work in Poland and 69% of Ukrainian adults working in the UK in April 2024. EVAM’s next accommodation search will determine whether it can avoid placing more people in shelters.