At least a dozen terminally ill British patients are expected to fly to a controversial clinic in Zurich in the coming months to be helped to commit suicide there.
The Swiss authorities, alarmed at the growth of 'suicide tourism', are considering making it illegal for foreigners to fly to their country to die.
But The Observer has learned that Swiss parliamentary moves to prevent British, Germans, Austrians and French from going to Zurich to kill themselves will take at least another 18 months.
The Observer revealed last November that the first British patient, an elderly man with throat cancer, had flown to the city with his son and daughter to have a peaceful painless death.
Ludwig Minelli, founder of the assisted suicide group Dignitas, which runs the clinic, said the man was fully aware of what he was doing and was grateful to die in the way he chose.
Last week, Reginald Crew, a 74-year-old with motor neurone disease, flew there with his wife Win, and died quietly in a suburban flat, having been administered a lethal dose of barbiturates.
His death has led to calls for a change in the law. Chris Davies, Lib Dem MEP for the North West, said the law should allow terminally ill people the opportunity to take their own life.
'After years of pain and suffering, to be allowed to die with dignity should be the most fundamental human right of all,' he said.
The Director of Public Prosecutions is studying the case, but it is thought unlikely that Mrs Crew will face prosecution for helping her husband kill himself, though technically she has broken the law.
In 2000, just three people went to Zurich to kill themselves. In 2001 that figure rose to 37 and last year 55. Another 12 to 15 Britons are expected there within the next five months. The group charges only £50 in fees, but people must pay for their own flights.
In Zurich, where the public is alarmed by media coverage of the clinic, Doris Vallender MP has introduced a Bill to make it illegal for foreigners to come to Switzerland to die. The earliest it could become law, however, is the end of 2004, according to a spokesperson for the Free Democratic Party.
