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CRIME

Switzerland looks to tighten anti-terror laws

The Swiss federal government has launched a period of consultation on proposed new legislation that would toughen penalties for terrorists and those supporting terror organizations.

Published: 22 June 2017 11:34 CEST
Switzerland looks to tighten anti-terror laws
Justice minister Simonetta Sommaruga presented the measures in a press conference on Thursday. File photo: Thierry Charlier/AFP
In a statement on Thursday, the government said: “The police and justice authorities must be able to act more resolutely against acts likely to increase the risk of a terrorist attack.”
 
It therefore wants to adapt current laws to combat the recruitment and training of terrorists and ‘jihadi tourism’.
 
The measures will replace the current temporary ban on terror organizations including Al-Qaida and Islamic State with new, more specific, legislation making it a criminal offence to recruit people for a terror group, receive terrorist training or travel abroad for the purposes of terrorism.
 
The new measures – which will apply both to terror groups and individuals – will allow Switzerland to ratify the Council of Europe’s 2005 Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism and its 2015 additional protocol, which specifies the same.
 
The Swiss government wants to raise the maximum jail sentence for people who support or participate in terrorism from five years to ten years – or 20 years for those who run terror groups.
 
 
It also wants to make it easier for investigators to share information with other countries’ intelligence services. 
 
The new measures, in consultation until October, will not contravene freedom of expression and religion, assured the government.
 
Further measures will be proposed later in the year, while the government also wants to establish an action plan for preventing terrorism by recommending ways to detect radicalization at an early stage.
 
According to intelligence figures up until this May 65 people have left Switzerland to join terror groups abroad, with an additional 23 unconfirmed cases, said news agencies.  
 
Among those 23 are thought to have died and an estimated 14 have returned. 

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CRIME

‘Your permit is invalid’: How scammers in Switzerland target foreigners

Scores of foreign residents have received an email recently telling them their residency rights in Switzerland have been revoked.

Published: 26 April 2024 11:17 CEST
'Your permit is invalid': How scammers in Switzerland target foreigners

A number of foreign nationals, especially in the German-speaking part of the country, have received an official-looking letter, purportedly from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) informing them that the Free Movement of People agreement between Switzerland and the EU has been nullified, and therefore “your residence permit is no longer valid.”

Faced with enquiries from concerned recipients, SEM responded that the letter is fake, advising recipients to ignore it and, above all, not to click on the QR code on the top.

“Fake letters from the SEM have been circulating since the beginning of this week,” the immigration authority said on its website as well as on X (formerly Twitter).  

“The letter has no impact on the recipient’s  residence status,” SEM added.

Fake jobs, real threats

However, this is only the latest scam perpetrated in the name of SEM.

There have been others in the past.

For instance, many foreigners have also received emails from addresses swissimmigration@consultant or eu_immigration@consultant, that pretend to be the Swiss immigration authority.

“In most cases, a fictitious job in the hotel industry is offered, with the senders demanding payment of 300 to 1,000 euros for a permit in Switzerland and for health and accident insurance,” SEM reported.

The first clue that this email doesn’t come from  SEM, which is part of Switzerland’s government, is that it is asking for payment in euros. If the scammers were smarter, they’d demand Swiss francs.

“These e-mails do not come from the SEM and should be considered as an attempt at fraud,” the agency said. 

Extortion attempt

And a few years ago, a number of foreigners received emails coming allegedly from SEM, Swiss border control authorities, or even the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol).

They threatened to revoke the victim’s residence permit or even expel them from the country altogether if they didn’t pay a certain sum of money into an anonymous account.

Needless to say, no government authority would ever resort to blackmail or demand payment for such ‘services’.

So a good rule to remember (for foreigners and Swiss alike) is that if threats and pressure are involved, letters / emails / phone calls ( WhatsUp messages are more than likely scams.
 
READ ALSO: The common scams foreigners in Switzerland need to be aware of 

Don’t respond

SEM as well as police urge everyone contacted by scammers, by whatever means to:

  • Ignore these messages by hanging up the phone and / or deleting emails, moving them to the Spam folder
  • Never give out your credit card number or bank account information to people you don’t know
  • If you did give your card number, contact your credit card company immediately to have the card blocked. Likewise, if you gave out your banking details, get in touch with your bank.
  • In the event of threats of extortion attempts, consider filing a criminal complaint. You can search for police stations in your area on the Police website. 
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