Swiss revoke citizenship of radicalised dual nationals
Swiss passports will be revoked for dual nationals in certain cases
Keystone
The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) has started proceedings to strip several radicalised dual nationals of their citizenship, Swiss public television SRF reports.
“We can confirm that at present there are proceedings to withdraw Swiss citizenship underway. There are fewer than five cases,” SEMExternal link spokeswoman Katrin Schmitter told SRF.External link
Switzerland is only allowed to strip citizenship from dual nationals. The proceedings are mostly aimed at people who leave Switzerland to fight for militant groups such as the so-called Islamic State (IS) and who have carried out serious terror-related or other crimes. These are people whose “behaviour is detrimental to Switzerland’s interests or reputation”, Schmitter said.
The SEM did not say whether the persons concerned are outside Switzerland or back in the country.
According to the Federal Intelligence Service, 20 dual nationals out of a total of 93 people have left Switzerland since 2001 to fight with militant groups, according to figures from February this yearExternal link.
The first case over stripping citizenship dates back two years and concerned a joint Swiss-Italian citizen. It caused an outcry at the time and legal clarifications were needed. It was found that the legal criteria were too vague so it was agreed to tighten them up. The change came into force officially in January 2018.External link
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.
Read more
More
Zurich and Geneva are top Swiss jihadist recruitment places
This content was published on
Jihadist recruitment in Geneva centred around the Petit-Saconnex mosque, with two taxi drivers helping to recruit and radicalise people, according to an investigation by Le Matin Dimanche newspaper.
This content was published on
The verdict includes a CHF2,000 ($2,127) fine according to a decision by the Office of the Attorney General, published by the SonntagsBlick newspaper. The defendant was found guilty of putting online several videos and photos of IS propaganda targeting western nations, including Switzerland, between May and December 2016. The man, who denied the charges, apparently claimed the…
Swiss to revoke citizenship of dual-national jihadists
This content was published on
The issue has been debated for a long time. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) is in theory already able to denaturalise dual nationals, based on the 1952 law on the acquisition and loss of Swiss citizenshipExternal link. This law is vague, however, stating that the SEM can revoke – with consent of the canton…
This content was published on
The State Secretariat for Migration said the 19-year-old Swiss-Italian is alleged to have joined the Islamic State terror group in Syria. The announcement was published in the most recent version of their official information bulletin. According to the citizenship law, dual-citizens can have their Swiss nationality revoked if their behaviour has a considerably detrimental effect…
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.