A fine of CHF 800 imposed on Anni Lanz by the authorities in Brig in December 2018 was unheld by a judge in Sion last week, according to Swiss broadcaster RTS. The 74 year old activist from Basel was caught bringing a failed Afghan asylum seeker back to Switzerland in violation of Swiss law. The […]
Muslim politician in Geneva quits party after voicing differences on gay marriage
Earlier this year, Sabine Tiguemounine, a parliamentarian from the Green Party, made news when she decided to sit in an area of Geneva’s parliament building open to the public, rather than in the main area where parliamentary members normally sit. Earlier in 2019, the canton introduced rules preventing public officials, including members of parliament, showing […]
Asylum requests down in Switzerland
The latest figures on second quarter asylum requests in Switzerland show a drop of 11% compared to the same quarter in 2018. In the second quarter of 2019, there were 3,347 requests, according to the government. Eritrea, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka were the three leading countries of origin. In June, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration […]
Expulsion of Cameroonian man after 10 years in Switzerland
Recently, a court in the canton of Bern confirmed the expulsion of a Cameroonian man who has failed to integrate, according to the newspaper Le Matin. The man, who arrived in Switzerland 10 years ago, had his first scrape with the law in 2015 when he was convicted of robbery. Since then he has been […]
Germany to reintroduce stiffer Swiss border checks, says minister
Before 2008, when Switzerland joined Schengen, a Europe-wide border-free zone, border checks were the norm. Since then people moving in and out of Switzerland to one of the 26 Schengen countries, which include Germany and Switzerland, have not been subject to routine checks. However, after an Eritrean man living in Switzerland allegedly pushed a boy […]
Zurich’s mayor wants to let foreigners vote
Speaking to the newspaper Tages-Anzeiger recently, Corine Mauch, Zurich’s mayor said she plans to launch an initiative to give foreign residents the chance to vote at a municipal level. Mauch, whose mother Ursula Mauch was the first female federal parliamentarian from the canton of Aargau, said that while foreign residents live, work and pay taxes […]
Switzerland signs post-Brexit security deal with Britain
Last week, Switzerland agreed with Britain to maintain the flow of information on organised crime and terrorism even if the UK leaves the EU with a no-deal. Karin Keller-Sutter and British Home Secretary Sajid Javid signed the contracts in London, according to a government press release. Should Britain leave the EU without a deal, “all […]
UBS warns of a looming shortage of workers in Switzerland
The Swiss bank UBS estimates there could be a shortfall of 500,000 workers in Switzerland in the coming 10 years as the baby boomer generation retires. However, the bank predicts the shortfall will not be even across all industries. Some sectors are expected to stagnate. Workers in these industries might find it harder to find […]
Switzerland number one for expat pay and stability
In 2019, Switzerland came top overall in a ranking of destinations for expatriates to live and work, moving up from eighth last year. Singapore, which had held the top spot for four years in the HSBC’s list of the best countries for expatriates, dropped to second place. Switzerland scored highly on salaries (1st), stability (1st), […]
Parliament votes against stripping serious criminals of Swiss nationality
Last week, a majority of the National Council, Switzerland’s parliament, voted against stripping serious criminals of Swiss nationality, according to Le Matin. A motion to take Swiss citizenship away from those who have committed serious crimes and who have more than one nationality, was put forward by Lorenzo Quadri, a member of the Lega party […]
