Switzerland and Germany adopt plan on irregular migration

Migrants arriving by train from Austria are controlled by Swiss customs officers at Buchs in eastern Switzerland, November 16, 2022. © Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller

Swiss Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter and German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser have agreed to an action plan to combat irregular migration.

Neighbours Switzerland and Germany want to combat the criminal smuggling networks on both sides of the border and ensure the systematic implementation of returns, the Swiss justice ministry said in a statementExternal link on Tuesday.

Cross-border search operations must be intensified, and greater use made of joint patrols to check rail traffic, it said.

“It is important that each country does its part, but without international coordination and consultation between neighbours we cannot effectively combat irregular migration,” Keller-Sutter said after the signing.

Faeser underlined the importance of close cooperation with neighbours, while insisting on the need to maintain open borders between Switzerland and Germany. She welcomed the fact that the joint action plan will make it possible to control migratory movements while avoiding the use of cumbersome measures, such as the temporary reintroduction of border controls.

The action plan promotes the registration of migrants and the carrying out of deportations.

“The aim of Switzerland and Germany is to prevent people who do not need protection from overloading the asylum system,” said the justice ministry.

The European Union’s border police Frontex said last month that 281,000 irregular entries had been recorded throughout the bloc in the first 10 months of 2022, up 77% from a year before and the highest since 2016.

With the Western Balkans route currently the most active, and the EU welcoming several million Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s war, worries about immigration have returned to the fore. In recent months growing numbers of migrants have entered Switzerland and Germany via the western Balkans and central Mediterranean migration routes.

The consequence for Switzerland: nearly 700 people are arriving every week at its eastern border – about three times as many as last winter, it was reported in October. Although applications for refugee status have increased, most of these migrants don’t have any desire to stay in Switzerland. They want to continue on to France or Britain.

An investigation at the beginning of October by Swiss public television, SRFExternal link, found that Switzerland was allowing migrants to transit to neighbouring countries instead of sending them back as demanded.