Increase in deportation rate of foreign offenders

Most of the foreign offenders who received a deportation order in 2018 were male. Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

In 2018, Swiss courts issued expulsion orders for 71% of all convictions that qualified for mandatory expulsion.

The number of foreigners convicted of a crime who received expulsion orders was 1,702, according to information released by the Federal Statistical OfficeExternal link on Monday. The implementation rate is slightly higher than the figure recorded in 2017 (69%).

The majority of cases involved male offenders. Only a quarter of convictions of foreigners holding a B or C permit were accompanied by a deportation order. Those convicted of crimes that carry a longer prison sentence were more likely to be subject to removal from the country: the application rate was 94% for prison sentences of more than two years. In cases where the courts decided against an expulsion order, the reasons were not recorded.

The expulsion order rate does not include convictions for theft and fraud in social security and welfare claims, as these do not appear in sufficient detail in the criminal record, the statistics office said. In 2018 the office was criticised for its reporting of expulsion numbers and had to revise its data, which initially included all categories of convictions for fraud.

The deportation law came into effect in January 2017 and covers expulsion of foreigners resident in Switzerland who are convicted of a range of crimes, such as murder, grievous bodily harm, sexual assault and serious crime against property. Voters had approved a clause in the law that allows courts to refrain from issuing a deportation order in certain “hardship cases”.