Deputies from the Liberal-Radical Party (FDP) are urging Justice Minister Beat Jans, whose department deals with migration, asylum, and internal security, to increase checks at key border points and in their immediate areas.
 
The goal of this operation would be to catch and send back asylum seekers already registered in another country.

“The new measures taken by our German neighbours must in no way aggravate the situation in Switzerland by welcoming asylum seekers turned back by that country,” the party said in a press release.

“If the German government can detain and immediately return asylum seekers who have already been registered elsewhere, then the Federal Council must do the same at our border with Italy,” FDP said.

Bundesrat @beat_jans, bitte aufwachen!

Deutschland verschärft den Schutz seiner Grenzen, um die illegale #Migration in den Griff zu bekommen. Auch in der Schweiz braucht es nun endlich Taten statt Worte von #SP-Bundesrat Jans.

Medienmitteilung 👉 https://t.co/vgOoEUugCp

— FDP Schweiz (@FDP_Liberalen) September 10, 2024

It also criticised Jans for being “inactive and silent” regarding illegal migration.

“We must not wait for the situation to become uncontrollable before reacting,” deputy Cyril Aellen told RTS public broadcaster, emphasising that this measure “is part of an European policy and the FDP ​​wants to work within the framework of the Schengen agreements to ensure the security of Switzerland.”

Not everyone agrees

A number of MPs, however, expressed concern about FDP’s stance.

Delphine Klopfenstein Broggini from the Social Democratic Party, for instance, said that strengthening border controls is not a solution to the illegal migration problem, emphasising instead the importance of finding safer escape routes and setting up ‘solidarity mechanisms’ at the European level.

FDP’s Aellen countered that “targeted border controls are essential to ensure that people already registered in other countries remain there, in accordance with the agreements that we want to enforce.”

Could Switzerland institute tighter controls at its borders?

If the Federal Council and parliament decide this move is in Switzerland’s best interest, then yes.

It had already done so from June 1st to September 8th of this year, due to what the government perceived as the increased threat of terrorism during the European Football Championship in Germany and the Summer Olympics in France. 

The Federal Council implemented controls on the borders with Switzerland “in order to combat the terrorism, based on a risk analysis,” the government said at the time. “Inspections of goods and persons carried out by the Federal Customs and Border Security Office (OFDF) will be intensified at frontier crossing points and in border areas.”

Whether or not the same measures will be introduced following FDP’s push remains to be seen.

Can Switzerland close its borders completely?

This would be a drastic measure that could only be based on a drastic situation — as it was at the beginning of the Covid pandemic in March 2020 when Switzerland, along with its neighbours, closed the borders to general tourism.
 
In normal circumstances, however, Switzerland, as part of the Schengen zone, cannot unilaterally decide to completely shut down all access to the country.