Entitlement to disability insurance benefits for a temporarily admitted refugee in Switzerland

Facts

A. arrived in Switzerland in 2008 and obtained refugee status with her children in 2010. Her son [D.], born in 2009, applied for disability insurance benefits in 2010 and 2011, but the Cantonal IV Office of Valais rejected these applications. [D.] appealed these decisions to the Valais Cantonal Court, which dismissed his appeal. [D.] then filed a public law appeal with the Federal Tribunal.

Considerations

The Federal Tribunal partially upheld the appeal. It considered that, under the terms of Art. 59 AsylA, a temporarily admitted refugee in Switzerland can invoke Art. 2(2) ARéf. Thus, a minor refugee domiciled and habitually resident in Switzerland is entitled to disability insurance rehabilitation measures under the same conditions as Swiss nationals, if they were born disabled in Switzerland or have resided there without interruption since birth.

However, the Federal Tribunal specified that the entitlement to benefits only applies from the date the refugee status was recognized, i.e. 31 May 2010 in this case. For the prior period, the conditions of Art. 9(3) IV…