Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Illegal entries boom from Switzerland into Germany

Border police
German police at Konstanz, on the border with Switzerland Keystone / Ennio Leanza

The number of unauthorised entries into Germany via Switzerland increased more than fivefold last year.

Between the first and second half of 2022 the figure rose from 1,610 to 8,862, the German newspaper Bild reported on TuesdayExternal link. Bild referred to a response from the German interior ministry to a query from the right-wing AfD party.

The head of the German Federal Police Union, Heiko Teggatz, said the figures were unsurprising. “Turning people back, like [Germany can do] at the Austrian border, is not possible at the Swiss border,” he told the newspaper. “The [German] interior ministry still refuses to register border controls with Switzerland with the EU and thus deliberately shifts responsibility to the states and municipalities.”

More

The southwest state of Baden-Württemberg is particularly affected by irregular migration via Switzerland. Hans-Ulrich Rülke, leader of the Free Democratic Party in Baden-Württemberg, has therefore called for increased border controls – even on the Swiss side.

The national border must be “more effectively protected on the Swiss side against illegal migration”, he said, adding that “this protection does not seem to exist at the moment”.

Bild says the trend continued in January 2023. According to preliminary figures, there were 922 illegal entries via Switzerland – “and these are only the ones recorded”, it said, pointing out that the German police reckon they catch about a third of those people entering the country without authorisation.

More

Most Read
Swiss Abroad

Most Discussed

News

films

More

Swiss films made their mark abroad in 2024

This content was published on Several Swiss films exceeded the 100,000 admissions mark worldwide in 2024 and received widespread praise at international film festivals.

Read more: Swiss films made their mark abroad in 2024

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

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.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR