The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Switzerland increasingly a target for people smuggling and trafficking

Switzerland increasingly a target for people smuggling and trafficking
Switzerland increasingly a target for people smuggling and trafficking Keystone-SDA

Switzerland is increasingly being targeted by organised crime. This also applies to commercial people smuggling, the fastest-growing criminal market in Europe. A report by the Federal Office of Police shows just how badly Switzerland is affected.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

According to a statement from the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) on Wednesday, the report, which replaces the 2014 report, explains how international crises and increasing migration flows are driving the activities of people smugglers. According to Europol, 54 smuggling networks are currently operating in Europe.

According to Fedpol, the EU has continuously stepped up its efforts to combat this crime. New legislation and the EU Action Plan 2021-2025 are intended to promote the exchange of information and police cooperation against people smuggling and trafficking. As a Schengen member state, Switzerland is closely involved in these efforts.

+ Nannies go through hell in Switzerland

According to the report, people smugglers offer a wide range of services and the cost of a smuggling operation ranges from several hundred to several thousand francs.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Most Read
Swiss Abroad

Most Discussed

News

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR