The Swiss Senate has voted in favor of introducing tighter asylum measures. The changes would include a new law that will allow for the deportation of criminal dual nationals in the country. The motion has yet to return to parliament for approval.
On September 17, the Swiss House of Representatives declared its support for changes to the country's asylum and immigration laws.
The changes were put forward by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), and are currently undergoing the democratic process of being passed from the upper house to the lower house of parliament.
The draft law includes a motion that would allow the federal government — in certain instances — to revoke the Swiss citizenship of dual nationals in the country in order to deport them more easily.
This new law would apply to foreign-born nationals who have been found guilty of the most serious crimes in Swiss law — such as murder, intentional homicide, rape, serious assault, war crimes and others.
Read AlsoSwiss voters reject proposal to cap population
Afghan women might face change in status
Another motion which the Senate supported relates to the asylum cases of Afghan women.
To date, European countries have accepted asylum requests from all women who had fled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan — a practise based on a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which says that all Afghan women have to be afforded protection.
But going forward, the Swiss government might no longer rubber-stamp each application submitted by female Afghans for asylum; instead, women would be given a provisional admission status, if the motion were to also pass through parliament.
This would keep Switzerland in line with the ECHR guideline, but potentially could allow for more leeway in individual cases.
The motion, however, is not likely to be applied retroactively, and so would, if passed, only affect newly arrived Afghan women.
EU citizens also to be affected if laws are changed
The Senate also approved certain changes to be applied to the relationship with the EU, which will now be debated in the lower house.
Though Switzerland is not part of the bloc, Switzerland has historically kept close ties with the EU — including in its participation in the borderless Schengen zone as well as close cooperation in other areas.
In many instances, Switzerland has adopted EU laws of its own volition to make trade, labor and other matters easier across borders.
Read AlsoSchengen zone expands, but border checks persist across EU
This particular motion deals with the employment rights of EU citizens who work in Switzerland but live on the other side of the country's border in neighboring states.
If signed into law, this particular bill would allow the government to reject any future changes to existing Swiss deals with the the financial compensation of such EU citizens working in Switzerland if they were to lose their job.
In other words, unemployed benefits for cross-border workers would remain at their current level and governed by the current Swiss law, even if the EU were to propose any changes.
Read AlsoSwitzerland to reduce asylum reception facilities by 20 percent