In 2022, 708 cases of racial discrimination were reported in Switzerland, 78 more than the year before and more than double the number in 2019, according to an annual report from humanrights.ch The rapid rise in the number reported events partly reflects a rising tendency among the population to respond to racism, says the report. […]
Federal Council requests 132 million for asylum seekers
Faced with rising numbers of asylum seekers, Switzerland’s government is under pressure to invest more money to reduce the strain on the country’s overloaded refugee housing. This week, the Federal Council requested parliament approve a loan of CHF 132.9 million to cover the cost, reported RTS. Already in 2023, 27,000 asylum seekers have arrived in […]
How Lausanne’s Ukraine Centre is helping Ukrainians help Ukrainians
Within a few weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine over 6,000 refugees had fled to Switzerland’s canton of Vaud. In response, three English speaking churches in Lausanne grouped together with other concerned local residents to set up the Ukraine Day Centre to help the refugees. “The canton was doing its utmost to provide vital […]
Swiss population living abroad reaches 800,000
On 6 April 2023, Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office (FSO) published figures on Swiss citizens living abroad. According to the report, in 2022, the number of Swiss citizens residing abroad exceeded 800,000, up 1.5% on 2021 and up 34% on 2002. By 2022, 10.9% of Swiss citizens lived outside Switzerland. In Western Europe, Switzerland ranks highly […]
Switzerland to apply welfare wealth limits to Ukrainian refugees
In Switzerland, basic welfare payments are only paid once an individual has spent almost all of their wealth supporting themselves. These requirements apply to everyone but are typically irrelevant for most refugees, who arrive in Switzerland with next to nothing. However, many arriving from Ukraine, a lower-middle income country, have wealth exceeding the limit, most […]
Switzerland expects high asylum numbers in 2023
This week, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) said that it expects 27,000 asylum seekers to arrive in Switzerland this year, reported RTS. The figure excludes Ukrainian refugees who enter Switzerland via a different process. They are granted protection status S in a fast-track procedure that does not involve going through the asylum procedure. Last […]
Call to raise minimum language requirement for citizenship in Swiss canton
What level of language mastery should be required to become Swiss? Members of the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) in the canton of Zug have decided the current language requirements for naturalisation in the canton are too low, so the party has put forward a motion to raise them, reported Blick. Who gets to become Swiss […]
Swiss ambassador angers Iranians with chador
Switzerland’s ambassador to Iran angered Iranians around the world by wearing a chador, a traditional full-body-length garment that is pulled over the head, while visiting Qom, a holy city in Iran, reported RTS. People from around the world, including Switzerland, reacted with outrage at the images. For many months, a large number of Iranians have […]
Strong job market boosts Swiss immigration in 2022
This week, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration published data showing a 32% rise in the net number of foreigners arriving in Switzerland in 2022 compared to 2021. The key driver of migration was employment. In 2022, 81,345 foreigners made Switzerland home, up from 61,526 in 2021. The number of non-Swiss citizens residing in Switzerland at […]
Dual nationality continues to rise in Switzerland
On 26 January 2023, data on dual nationality in Switzerland were published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Between 2010 and 2021 the number of Swiss citizens over 15 years old with another nationality rose from 13.8% to 19.5%, a rise of 5.7 percentage points. The number of Swiss citizens with another nationality has risen […]