More and more Swiss citizens are being condemned for accommodating migrants under their own roofs, reports L’Hebdo.

Accommodating someone without papers is forbidden under article 116 of the federal law on foreigners, punishable with a fine or up to a year in prison. In 2014, 875 people were prosecuted under this law, compared to 582 in 2012.

The stated intention of this law was to punish people traffickers, but since the law came into force in 2008 few traffickers have been punished.

A similar law in France (“délit de solidarité”) was annulled in 2013 after complaints from associations helping migrants in Nord-Pas-de-Calais.