The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) has been the victim of at least twenty cases of usurpation. Counterfeiters posed as him last spring apparently for the sole purpose of scaring away foreigners. Faced with this “unprecedented and worrying” approach, the authorities are helpless.
Marie* is a researcher of European origin. It has been three years since she moved to Switzerland, “a dream come true” for her and her husband. A dream that she thought she saw vanish last spring when she received a letter bearing the letterhead of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) announcing the revocation of her residence permit. “As part of the Bilateral III negotiations between Switzerland and the European Union, the Swiss government has decided to apply the safeguard clause (…) We therefore inform you that your residence permit will be revoked on December 31, 2024,” it reads in German and English.
“It looked official.”
The letter bears his name and business address. “There was nothing that alerted me, it seemed official,” recalls Marie. In tears, the researcher believes she must announce her resignation, due to lack of residence permit. It was only when speaking with her manager that she realized that the letter was in reality a fake. The reference number is wrong, the QR code leads nowhere and the English is clunky.
Marie is relieved, but upset. “It’s the first time I didn’t feel welcome. I’ve lived here for almost three years and no one has ever made me feel like that. It was a shock. I will always remember my reaction upon opening this letter.”
At least twenty cases
Marie is not the only one to have been targeted. In a written response, the SEM acknowledges having become aware of around twenty cases in April and May 2024. “Other reports concerning these falsified letters also reached the cantonal authorities at the same time. We are not aware of any the number”, specifies the spokesperson for the State Secretariat for Migration.
The SEM denounced the facts in May to the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Confederation (MPC), which opened an investigation for usurpation of functions. But federal prosecutors are unable to identify the perpetrators and are suspending their investigations in September 2024, the MPC confirms in an email. Just when Marie receives a new letter in her name.
Racist pamphlet
This time, the message is more direct. “You have transformed our beautiful country into a slum infested with foreigners, too populated, too expensive and culturally alienated,” asserts the crude pamphlet, concluding “get out before the riots break out in 2025”.
-Marie sighs “It’s very personal…and unfair. They don’t know me. They just found my info somewhere and are sending me these letters.” The researcher is not a public figure and does not know why she is being targeted. A question to which neither the SEM nor the MPC have an answer.
A German-speaking problem?
Are these letters the work of an unbalanced person or are they politically motivated? Impossible to know, but for Alma Wiecken, director of the Federal Commission against Racism, the approach is unprecedented and worrying. And it recalls, in the words used, the themes of the extreme right. “It’s scary, especially to the people who received this letter. It gives information about the general atmosphere in Switzerland,” she says.
The atmosphere would be more deleterious across Sarine, according to Alma Wiecken. This is due to the influence of German-speaking far-right groups who propagate themes such as ‘remigration’ in German-speaking Switzerland. “There is close contact between far-right groups in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. We often see that there are issues in the German-speaking area, but not in French-speaking Switzerland,” believes the director of the Federal Commission against Racism. Moreover, the RTS is not aware of similar letters written in French.
As for Marie, the mishap left its mark on her, but did not change her intentions. “I moved to Switzerland because I love the country. I love hiking, swimming. I feel like our values are the same. These letters are unpleasant, but they won’t make me leave .”
*Istaken first name
Michael Maccabez
