Two Swiss in custody for smuggling migrants into France
Around 100 mostly French and Italian activists crossed the Montgenèvre pass at the Italian border with the migrants
Keystone
Two Swiss nationals and four Italians have been arrested and taken into police custody in the French Alps. On Sunday, they helped 30 illegal migrants enter France from Italy.
This content was published on
2 minutes
SDA-ATS/ac
The prosecutor’s office of French town of Gap said on Monday that the two Swiss are in police custody for “aiding the entry of foreigners without the right paperwork into the country in an organised operation”.
Those arrested joined around 100 mostly French and Italian activists, who crossed the Montgenèvre pass at the Italian border with the migrants. They reached the ski resort of Montgenèvre, where they were met by the police, and then moved on to the town of Briançon, where a reception centre for migrants run by volunteers is located.
The attempt came after activists from a right-wing group called Génération Identitaire blocked the Col de l’Échelle from Saturday to Sunday morning, six kilometres (3.7 miles) from the border, which they consider to be a “strategic point of passage for illegal immigrants”. The group had created a “symbolic border” with barriers and unfurled a banner on the side of the mountain that said, “No Way”.
Weak border
On Sunday, French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb criticised both “ultra-right” and “ultra-left” groups for their “unacceptable actions”, a few hours before the adoption by French deputies of a controversial bill on immigration.
The minister announced that reinforcements would be sent to enforce border control in this region. As early as Sunday, a mobile police squadron arrived, joined by more police on Monday, totalling a force of 100.
Between July 2017 and February 2018, nearly 3,000 migrants passed through the improvised shelter in the French Alps, including at least 1,185 Guineans (793 of whom declared themselves minors) and 481 Ivorians (209 of whom declared themselves minors).
According to the French authorities, 1,900 illegal immigrants were returned to Italy in 2017 compared with 315 in 2016.
More
More
People-smugglers caught driving migrants across border
This content was published on
The four suspects – aged between 21 and 39 years and legal residents of Italy – drove the migrants from Como in Italy to either Lugano in the Swiss canton of Ticino, or Zurich. In return for their services, they charged migrants a fee ranging from €90 to 150 (CHF96 to 160). The investigation into…
Swiss institute hosted informal talks between Russians, Ukrainians and Americans
This content was published on
The Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) has hosted 10 meetings between Russian and Ukrainian interlocutors since the start of the war.
Automated driving on Swiss motorways is theoretically possible from March
This content was published on
It will be theoretically possible to hand over the steering wheel to technology but no such system has been submitted for official approval yet.
Heated atmosphere at Swiss rally against AfD politician Alice Weidel
This content was published on
Around 250 people demonstrated "against the right" and the German AfD politician Alice Weidel on Saturday afternoon in Einsiedeln.
This content was published on
The Ethos Foundation recommends that shareholders vote against all compensation-related items at the Annual General Meeting on March 7.
Top Swiss firms close to reaching gender quota in boards
This content was published on
The proportion of women on the boards of directors of the fifty largest listed companies in Switzerland currently stands at 28%.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Court confirms guilt of immigrant-helping politician
This content was published on
A police court in southern Switzerland has sentenced a Swiss politician who helped 24 illegal immigrants enter the country via Italy.
This content was published on
The hard-hitting advert, which has been aired on prime-time television in Cameroon and Nigeria, depicts the life of freshly arrived migrants in Europe as one fraught with problems and dangers. In the film an African migrant phones his father from somewhere in Europe in the pouring rain and assures him that all is well while…
Questions raised over Swiss-funded migrant ‘ferry service’
This content was published on
In 2016, Malta-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOASExternal link) – that rescues migrants making the journey from Libya to Italy by boat – had received a Swiss government grant worth CHF250,000 ($256,233). The activities of MOAS, along with other NGOs like Doctors Without Borders and Save the Children, have drawn the attention of three Italian…
People-smugglers caught driving migrants across border
This content was published on
The four suspects – aged between 21 and 39 years and legal residents of Italy – drove the migrants from Como in Italy to either Lugano in the Swiss canton of Ticino, or Zurich. In return for their services, they charged migrants a fee ranging from €90 to 150 (CHF96 to 160). The investigation into…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.