To North Macedonia: family deported – father accuses Switzerland

updated11. August 2022, 07:09

To North MacedoniaFamily deported – father accuses Switzerland

A family of six had to leave Switzerland this year. Before that, the parents fought for years against deportation to North Macedonia.

von: Monira Djurdjevic; Seline Bietenhard

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“I don’t understand why my children have to pay for my mistakes,” says 57-year-old D. His family was recently deported to North Macedonia.

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“We have nothing here and stayed with relatives. My children have no future here. They neither know the country nor can they speak the language properly,” says D.

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Among other things, the father's debts led to the deportation. Now he wants to find a way for his children to return to Switzerland. — Among other things, the father’s debts led to the deportation. Now he wants to find a way for his children to return to Switzerland.

20min/Matthias Spicher

A family of six has been deported to North Macedonia.
Among other things, the father’s debts led to the deportation.
Now he wants to find a way for his children to return to Switzerland.

For years, the family of D.* (57) had resisted deportation, going twice to the federal court. But without success. The family of six has now been living in North Macedonia for over four months. “We have nothing here and stayed with relatives. My children have no future here. They neither know the country nor can they speak the language properly,” says D.

The 57-year-old came to Switzerland 30 years ago. Eight years later his wife followed. “We got married and had four children. Our life was good,” he says. But when his wife became seriously ill, he had to give up his job and take care of the children. Because the couple, who in the meantime lived on the welfare office, accumulated more and more debts and D. became a criminal, the authorities withdrew his settlement permit and his wife’s residence permit.

“I don’t understand why my children have to pay for my mistakes”

Eventually the family was asked to leave the country. And this despite the fact that the doctors warned against deportation because of the unstable mental situation of the woman, as documents that have been available for 20 minutes show.

Particularly bad for D.: His children also had to leave Switzerland. His eldest daughter still had the prospect of an apprenticeship shortly before the deportation. “With the apprenticeship, she would have received a good education and soon been able to stand on her own two feet.”

He now hopes to find a way for his children, aged 12 and 20, to return to Switzerland. “I don’t understand why my children have to pay for my mistakes,” says D. “That’s inhuman. You were born in Switzerland, this is your home. They’re not happy here and they really want to go back.”

appeal dismissed

According to a federal court decision, D. was convicted several times, including for forging documents and violating the Road Traffic Act. In 2008, the migration authorities also found that the marital debts had increased massively. After the situation had deteriorated further, the migration office revoked D.’s settlement permit and did not extend his wife’s residence permit.

In addition, it rejected the family from Switzerland. An appeal against this was dismissed by the Administrative Court and the Federal Supreme Court in 2015. The migration office did not respond to a request for reconsideration or a request for hardship for the eldest daughter. In 2021, the administrative court and the federal court rejected an appeal against it.

“It cannot be ruled out that the children will return one day”

Marc Spescha is a lawyer and lecturer in migration law at the University of Freiburg. He files the case for 20 minutes.

Mr. Spescha, why was the family deported?

The decisive factor was the decision in 2015, after which the family would have had to leave Switzerland. The main reasons for the deportation were the couple’s debts and the father’s delinquency. In addition, underage children usually have to follow their parents. An independent whereabouts of the children in Switzerland had apparently never been asserted in the proceedings.

Why did it take so long before the family had to leave Switzerland?

The family submitted a new application because of the mother’s poor health and regularly documented her poor health. That is why the migration authorities refrained from deporting them. Finally, the legal representative also submitted a hardship application for the eldest daughter. New applications due to changed circumstances are generally permissible even after a decision has been made to remove you. However, such a long procedure as in the present case is unusual.

Is there any possibility that the children can return?

It is not impossible that the children could return one day. However, they would have to overcome significant obstacles. They would only be admitted as labor migrants from a so-called third country if they were highly qualified and if a shortage of skilled workers was recognized in the relevant sector. They could only come as students if they were admitted to a (technical) university. Finally, it would be conceivable to issue a hardship permit with the argument that you have lived there for many years and have attended school here. This would require a benevolent authority that has empathy for the fact that Switzerland has become a home, especially for the two oldest children. In addition, a canton would have to agree to issue a hardship permit and submit it to the SEM for approval.