Begging: Bern’s strict stance validated in court ruling

Bern officials remove street-beggars who lack Swiss citizenship or residence. © Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

Bern’s approach to street-begging has been validated by the Swiss Federal Court, though the controversy surrounding the hard line approach in the city remains.

Bern officials have consistently removed street-beggars who lack Swiss citizenship or valid residence. A recent Federal Court decision on Basel’s ban on begging is now being interpreted as supporting Bern’s strict approach.

In an interview with Swiss public television, SRF, Alexander Ott of Bern’s police department explained that beggars are often reported for aggressive behaviour. If they are identified as having EU citizenship but not Swiss residency, they are ordered to leave the country.

City officials claim that while clarifying the residency and living conditions of individuals is time-consuming, the approach has been effective. However, this hard line approach has been criticised as legally controversial.

Many people taken in for begging come from EU countries and, according to Valerio Priuli, a lecturer in migration law at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, are therefore permitted to stay in Switzerland for three months based on the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons. Priuli argues that there is no legal basis for issuing a deportation order during this three-month period.

Priuli’s stance differs from the interpretation of the agreement by the city of Bern. Bern’s officials interpret the agreement to mean that only individuals who can provide for themselves financially have the right to stay in Switzerland, which is not the case for beggars.

Interest groups criticise Bern’s practice of expelling people as repressive treatment of people in public spaces. Michel Steiner, of the association for street work “Schwarzer Peter”, argues that many people are banned because they disturb the desired cityscape. Despite the controversy, Alexander Ott, however, disagrees with this view. “The ruling shows us that we are on the right track,” he told SRF.