Losing the red Swiss passport can happen for several reasons
As Swissinfo.ch notes, at the end of last year this topic became front-page news in all major Swiss newspapers: a citizen of this country abducted her two daughters and, without the father's knowledge, went to Syria to fight on the side of the terrorist Islamic State (IS). Now the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) has officially stripped her of her citizenship.
According to reports, this decision was made at the highest level of the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police, headed by Karin Keller-Sutter. The decision was part of a package of practical measures to sharply tighten state policy regarding citizens officially recognized as accomplices to terrorism.
Not 'creating' stateless persons
The aforementioned Swiss woman who lost her citizenship became only the second person since the end of World War II against whom Swiss authorities have taken a decision to expatriate. As of early January 2020, this decision is not yet legally binding. She can still appeal it to the Federal Administrative Court in St. Gallen within 30 days.
Under current law, revoking a person's Swiss citizenship is only possible if they hold a second citizenship. Otherwise, Switzerland would turn such a person into an 'apatride,' i.e., a stateless person, which is prohibited by international law. According to the SEM, this woman also has a second, French passport.
Thus, she now has no possibility of returning to Switzerland. At the same time, authorities are doing everything possible to bring the two abducted girls back home to Geneva.
In September 2019, the Swiss Federal Migration Office already revoked the passport of a person with dual citizenship – Turkish-Swiss. A final ruling by the Federal Criminal Court convicted this person for belonging to the Islamic State.
According to the SEM, a person with dual citizenship can be stripped of Swiss citizenship rights if 'their actions or behavior cause substantial harm to the interests or reputation of Switzerland.' Moreover, revoking such a person's passport 'is only possible in an extraordinary case of damage of extreme proportions.'
As an example, the migration office emphasizes that a convicted war criminal or terrorist can lose the right to call themselves Swiss. However, this raises the question: who actually assesses the degree of harm and who decides that in a given case 'extraordinary harm has been done to Switzerland's reputation'?
Norms from World War II
Modern norms of expatriation in Switzerland were formulated back during World War II. It was then that the last cases of citizenship revocation occurred in the country, albeit in a completely different context than today. Thus, between 1940 and 1947, the Confederation stripped about 80 people of their Swiss citizenship rights, including several women and children. In most cases, the basis for such decisions was the fact that 'these persons acted in favor of the German National Socialist regime.'
After the war, in 1952, the possibility of expatriation was included in the new Federal Law on Swiss Citizenship Rights, but since then this provision has never actually been applied in practice. The situation changed, partly due to the growing threat from international terrorism and the need to more actively counter these threats.
In 2018, the Federal Council, the Swiss government, specified the relevant provisions of national legislation. 'Now one of the possible real reasons for expatriation can be serious crimes committed in the context of terrorist activity,' recalls the Swiss newspaper 'Tages-Anzeiger.'
Voluntary renunciation possible
Another situation is possible: a person may voluntarily renounce their Swiss passport. This option is primarily intended for Swiss citizens permanently residing abroad who hold citizenship of their country of residence. Such citizens can apply to a Swiss consular representation abroad to renounce their Swiss citizenship.
After a decision to annul naturalization has officially entered into force, an application to restore Swiss citizenship rights can be lawfully submitted no earlier than two years after the annulment. Swiss citizenship can also be lost 'naturally' by any person born abroad as a child of at least one Swiss parent and holding dual citizenship.
Such a person must, upon reaching the age of 23, officially declare to the Swiss authorities their desire to retain Swiss citizenship. Otherwise, they automatically lose these rights.
Finally, and this is the fourth possibility of expatriation, Swiss citizenship can be declared invalid if it is proven that the person was naturalized on the basis of 'knowingly false statements and declarations or in a situation of concealing facts substantially important for the authorities in deciding on naturalization or refusal thereof.'