Switzerland only revokes citizenship in rare cases
Published: Wednesday, Mar 6th 2024, 13:10
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Following the knife attack on a 50-year-old man of the Jewish Orthodox faith in Zurich, there have been calls for the 15-year-old perpetrator to be expatriated. Revocation of Swiss citizenship is possible in principle, but is rarely carried out.
The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) has issued five withdrawal decisions since 2018, all of which were directed against people who had supported or committed terrorist acts, as it announced on Wednesday at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency.
Three of these people have already lost their Swiss citizenship with legally binding effect. Two others are currently defending themselves against the revocation before the Federal Administrative Court.
In addition, the SEM had conducted two further proceedings in the meantime. However, it discontinued these again without imposing a withdrawal.
Proceedings against IS travelers
The procedures were carried out in view of the situation in the Middle East - in particular following the departure of Swiss dual nationals to the territory of the Islamic State (IS), as the SEM further stated on request.
Further proceedings have not yet been ruled out: Criminal proceedings are currently underway against almost a dozen other people. And as soon as legally binding judgments are available, the SEM will consider opening further withdrawal proceedings.
The requirements for this are set out in the Citizenship Act and the Citizenship Ordinance: The SEM may, with the consent of the home canton, revoke the Swiss citizenship and cantonal and communal citizenship of a dual citizen if their conduct is seriously detrimental to the interests or reputation of Switzerland.
This is the case for genocide, crimes against humanity or serious crimes in the context of terrorist activities, violent extremism or organized crime, among others. Citizenship rights can only be revoked once a legally binding judgment has been passed. The person must have a second citizenship; they may not become stateless.
The new Citizenship Act has been in force since 2018. According to the SEM, the wording of the withdrawal rules was taken over from the old law. This provision originally dates back to an emergency ordinance issued by the Federal Council during the Second World War to counter the threat posed by National Socialists. Parliament then decided to retain this provision, particularly for Swiss dual nationals who have committed a terrorist attack.
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