SEM boss Schraner Burgener: She has the toughest job in Bern

The Secretary of State for Migration has a talent for creating proximity. She treats every visitor as if she has known them for a long time – even the journalist she is meeting for the second time.

Too open in the heat of the moment

However, sometimes her quick tongue becomes her downfall. In an interview with SonntagsBlick, she reveals a personnel decision that is not yet public. And she recently told the “NZZ” that people with S status should automatically stay in the country after completing an internship. That turned out to be wrong – the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) had to correct it.

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The real reason for the discussion with the State Secretary is the ‘no’ of the parliament to the asylum containers. Because Schraner Burgener, who has been in office since 2022, is currently experiencing the adverse effects of the election campaign on her work.

The SVP has delved into the migration issue and almost daily criticizes the work of Schraner Burgener’s boss, SP Bundesraadmember Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (59). This is new in office, doesn’t seem to be in yet – and is occasionally undermined by Treasury Secretary Karin Keller-Sutter (59). Sweeping up the pieces is left to Schraner Burgener. The most recent example is the asylum containers.

Councils of States against cantons

Due to the increasing number of asylum seekers, Minister Baume-Schneider of Justice had proposed building container settlements with 3,000 beds. Led by middle state councilors Benedikt Würth (55) and Beat Rieder (60), an alliance of middle class, FDP and SVP rejected the asylum containers in the summer session – contrary to the urgent request of the cantons.

There was actually no good reason to refuse the containers. However, the councilors of the middle state complained that things had gone badly.

She cannot understand this accusation, says Schraner Burgener in an interview. “We have clearly clarified the legal situation. And I included the cantons and those municipalities where the cantons wanted it.” She remains convinced that the asylum containers would have been the best solution. But it goes without saying that the decision must be accepted. “We are now looking at how we can arrange accommodation with the cantons,” says the lawyer pragmatically.

And then a little bit of criticism: “When there’s an election anywhere in the world, certain issues are very often instrumentalized to create fear.” She finds that ‘dishonorable’.

Early campaigner for equality

Schraner Burgener has a habit of being diplomatic without sitting still. 30 years ago, at the start of her career, part-time work at the diplomatic level was not allowed. Schraner Burgener knew what that meant: as a woman, she would have to choose between children and a career—or accept that she would hardly ever see her future children.

The lawyer asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EDA) several times whether this could change. Without success. “So I sent federal councilman Flavio Cotti a handwritten letter explaining the problem to him.” He invited her for an interview. And came to the conclusion: the rule should be abolished.

Job sharing with her husband

After the birth of her first child, Schraner Burgener implemented another innovation: she and her husband, also a diplomat, took on the first pioneering ambassadorship. “We alternated between the office and childcare.” It was a win-win-win situation: “Because the federal government also benefited: In the evening my husband and I were able to go to various business events.”

Schraner Burgener pursues his goals kindly but persistently. Although she does not hide her successes, which is quite atypical for a Swiss woman. When she talks about her time as ambassador in Thailand, she casually mentions that an awareness campaign is being conducted in local schools and villages because of the rapidly growing sex tourism with children. Or that, as a Swiss asylum seeker, she sometimes exchanges information directly with UN Secretary-General António Guterres (76).

The UN boss on the wire

The contact with the top UN official is no coincidence. From 2018 to 2022, she served as the UN Special Envoy to Myanmar – one of the highest-ranking offices the UN has to offer. The lawyer negotiated with the Burmese military regime, reported to the UN Security Council and tried to improve the plight of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees.

Back in Switzerland, things followed each other quickly. As soon as she was in office as secretary of state, Russia attacked Ukraine. Tens of thousands of refugees sought protection in Germany. Not everything went well and communication between authorities and refugees did not always go well. But in general, the federal government and the cantons have managed the crisis reasonably well: private individuals opened their doors, no one had to sleep outside.

Applause from left to right

SP member Schraner Burgener received cross-party praise from parliament for her approach to the refugee crisis. However, there is also criticism of her administration: as a secretary of state, she is too much of a diplomat. And she has no feeling for the mechanisms of Swiss domestic politics.

The SEM boss is surprised at the criticism that she does not involve cantons or parliamentarians enough: “I am always in parliament and explain our position.” She speaks from left to right with all politicians and also participated in the SVP party congress in Hoorn TG. “But what I can’t do is express my own opinion there.” She does not represent her personal opinion, but the entire Bundesrat. “I’m true to that.”

In such cases, Schraner Burgener is again a diplomat. Albeit an unusually talkative one.