The case concerned A., who applied for asylum and was recognised as a refugee in 1999. Under his nationality it was registered “Western Sahara”. Since then, he got married and had two children, and refugee status and the nationality were extended to the whole family. In 2019, he was summoned by the Population and Migrants Service of the Canton of Fribourg (SpoMi) to confirm their biometric data. A. noticed that his nationality and the one of his children were registered as Moroccan and contacted the State Secretary for Migration to correct the error. The SEM informed A. that Western Sahara was not recognised as a country, and therefore they were registered under Morocco. In September 2019, he was informed that the practice had been changes and they would now be registered as stateless. A. requested a formal decision to be made on his nationality. He claimed that the Sahrawi nationality (Western Sahara) was recognised by the Swiss authorities when granting asylum and it was always mentioned on his official documents since then. He claimed that there was a violation of Article 8 of the ECHR as the decision to change the nationality stems from an arbitrary decision and it is not justified by any pressing social needs. Additionally, he claimed that this would be a breach of his freedom of movement towards those countries where his documents would not be accepted for showing “without nationality".

The Federal Court considered that the registration of A. “without nationality” fell within the scope of Article 8 ECHR as nationality is an element of identity and the rectification of data on this subject fell within the broad definition of privacy laid down by this provision. Furthermore, the Court noted the need to ensure consistency between the information in the register with the international position of Switzerland. The international position of Switzerland, and particularly the practice of registering “without nationality” the nationals of Western Sahara, pursues an aim of public interest relating to the foreign policy of the country. The court also noted that the contested measure does not entail the revocation of refugee status and does not call into question the continuity of his stay in Switzerland and the content of his protection. Additionally, the mention "without nationality" does not lead to statelessness as the country does not have the powers and sovereignty to withdraw Sahrawi nationality from A. and his family. The court dismissed the appeal.