The Swiss People's Party has declared it wants to "put a stop" to what it calls "disproportionate and harmful" immigration. The right-wing party hopes to set up transit zones abroad to prevent "illegal entries."
Switzerland recorded some 52,000 cases of unauthorized entry last year, almost three times as many as in 2021. Most of the migrants apprehended were reported to be of Afghan and Moroccan nationality.
Switzerland has announced a temporary halt to its participation in a UN program to take in vulnerable refugees. The government says the influx of war refugees from Ukraine has pushed it to the limit.
Germany and Switzerland have agreed to strengthen police controls to prevent migrants from crossing their common border. The move follows claims that Swiss authorities have been helping irregular migrants to reach Germany and France.
Some 500 people gathered in Geneva on Thursday to highlight the suicide of an 18-year-old Afghan asylum seeker. He reportedly had taken his own life last week after being informed that he was to going be deported from Switzerland to Greece.
According to several reports, Swiss officials are allowing hundreds of migrants to enter the European Union. Some even say that Switzerland is actively assisting migrants in their onward journey into Northern Europe. Accusations of Switzerland breaking its international obligations are now mounting.
Merkel dedicated her award to the thousands of people who volunteered to welcome refugees in 2015 when Germany took in over one million people fleeing war, many from Syria.
United Nations experts say that people of African descent face 'systemic racism' in Switzerland by law enforcement and the judicial system.
The National Commission for the Prevention of Torture has criticized Switzerland for using inappropriate force during deportation. One pregnant woman was restrained in front of her children and forced to breastfeed while handcuffed.
Swiss police have found 23 refugees crowded inside a van coming from northern Italy. The driver has been arrested.
Police on Crete last week stopped 22 migrants who were trying to leave the Greek island using forged foreign passports.
IOM, UNHCR, and UNICEF have urged EU states to put an end to the detention of migrant and refugee children, and have provided new recommendations for alternatives to the practice.