Detention of vulnerable applicants

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The law prohibits the detention of children under 15. Detention for minors between 15 and 18 is possible and can last a maximum of 12 months (whereas detention of adults can last up to 18 months).

The following numbers regarding child detention were provided by the SEM from 2018 to 2024:

Source: SEM, March 2021, April 2022, May 2023, March 2024, March 2025.

According to a report published by the NCPT in 2019, two cantons (Geneva and Neuchâtel) formally prohibit the detention of minors (including those of 15 and above) in their cantonal law, while five (Basel-Land, Jura, Obwald, Nidwald, Vaud) do not order administrative detention as a matter of principle. On the other side, ten cantons have communicated having placed minors in administrative detention in the same period (Aargau, Basel-Stadt, Bern, Glarus, St-Gallen, Solothurn, Uri, Valais, Zug, Zurich). The NCPT also highlights that most minors are detained in prisons for the execution of penalties or remand prisons, which are inadequate. The UN-CAT shared its concern in December 2023 that children between the ages of 15 and 18 continue to be detained for immigration-related purposes.[1]

According to the Federal Council, alternatives to administrative detention for minors and families have also been examined and many cantons apply alternative solutions like enforcing removal from the accommodation centre, the obligation to report and assigning a place of residence.[2]

NGO Terre des Hommes reported in 2018 that most cantons avoid detaining whole families, however in case of non-collaboration, some cantons detain the father, while the mother and children stay in the reception centre.[3] In some (rare) cases it can also happen that a single parent or both parents are detained, while the children are placed in foster care or a home. This practice is problematic from the point of view of the right to family life and the best interests of the child.

As regards the conditions of detention, Article 81(3) FNIA contains special rules, which require taking into account the specific needs of vulnerable persons, unaccompanied children and families in detention arrangements. The Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that all cantons should take measures to prevent the placement of children with adults during different kinds of confinement, including administrative detention.[4]

There are few facilities with places reserved for the administrative detention of women. Since the facilities only house a small number of women and the places are often empty, women can find themselves in a condition of loneliness and de facto isolation.[5]

Regarding the detention of asylum applicants in airport transit zones during the airport procedure, vulnerable applicants – including unaccompanied minors – can also be held at the airport. This usually occurs during the first days after their application. When the vulnerability is manifest, for example in cases of unaccompanied minors or pregnant women, entry into the territory is usually allowed faster.

[1] UN Committee against Torture CAT, Concluding observations on the eighth periodic report of Switzerland, 11 December 2023, available here.

[2] Contrôle de suivi : détention administrative de requérants d’asile: Rapport succinct de la Commission de gestion du Conseil national, 8 September 2023, available here, ch. 5.1.

[3] Terre des Hommes, État des lieux sur la détention administrative des mineur.e.s migrant.e.s en Suisse, November 2018, 77.

[4] UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding observations on the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of Switzerland, 22 October 2021, available here, 15. Terre des Hommes reported in 2018 that the conditions in which the detention of minors occurs were unacceptable and put them at risk of abuse, particularly if the separation from adults is not respected: Terre des Hommes, État des lieux sur la détention administrative des mineur.e.s migrant.e.s en Suisse, November 2018, available here, 81.

[5] Karin Meier, Eine Stimme für Menschen in Ausschaffungshaft, Reformiert, 4 March 2019, available in German here.