You seek asylum in Switzerland? Facebook and Twitter Warning

Journal ) NZZ am Sonntagı announced that Swiss authorities will inspect the data from Facebook and Twitter accounts of an applicant to investigate asylum requirements. A spokesperson for the State Secretariat for Migration told the paper that information published in these social profiles could bring a better understanding of a person's circumstances.

“From information asylum seekers publish on social networks, it may be possible to draw conclusions that may be important for asylum procedure, such as references to family relations”, the spokesman said in a statement quoted by SwissInfo.

Now a working group has been created to establish rules about how and under what conditions social media information can be obtained.

Lawyers for the strategy cite the case of a Nigerian person applying for asylum in Switzerland in 2016 amid claims that he had been persecuted in his country. After finding pictures that his wife posted online, investigators learned that he had come, not from Nigeria, but from Spain, where he lived under a different name. An deportation order was appealed by the husband's lawyers, arguing that human privacy had been violated. The complaint was rejected by a federal court.

According to the non-profit group the Swiss Council for Refugees, Switzerland received more than 18,000 asylum applications last year, including a record number from people living in other European countries. Most of the applications from outside Europe were from Eritrea, Syria and Afghanistan.