Today, Switzerland’s parliament voted, by a slim majority, to accept the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) text banning the wearing of burkas across all of Switzerland. The text, accepted by 88 votes to 87, is the same as the text used for a similar ban in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, that went into force on 1 July […]
Tough new Swiss rules on residency permits make it through parliament
Switzerland’s National Council, or parliament, voted in favour of strict new rules on Swiss residency permits last week. The project, which was started at the beginning 2014, looked like it might come to nothing after it was sent back for review after the successful 9 February 2014 vote to restrict mass immigration. Only a few […]
School authority confirms sanctions against pupils refusing to shake teacher’s hand
Le Matin. In April this year a secondary school in Therwil, not far from Basel, exempted two school pupils from the customary Swiss handshake between teachers and pupils. Because their teacher is a woman, the two male pupils requested an exemption on religious grounds. After triggering a wave of indignation, the decision was reversed. In response, the parents […]
Plan to limit Swiss immigration by offering jobs to locals first
20 Minutes. A Swiss parliamentary commission thinks it has found a way to implement controls on immigration. On 9 February 2014, Swiss voters decided by a slim majority of 50.3% to adopt new rules on immigration. The Swiss government has three years to implement the changes and the deadline is fast approaching. The biggest stumbling […]
Proposed integration laws rejected by Swiss government commission
20 Minutes. A government commission has rejected proposed laws designed to improve the integration of foreigners in Switzerland, with 12 votes against, 9 for, and 2 abstentions. By early 2014, the Swiss National Council and Council of States had made good progress on the project. Then, following the successful popular vote in February 2014 to […]
Expats in Switzerland aren’t feeling the love, says a new survey measuring quality of life
By Bill Harby In some ways, Switzerland is the envy of the world, which brings expats here from around the globe, hoping to ski, eat superb chocolate and open their very own Swiss bank account. In fact, now nearly 25 percent of people living in Switzerland are foreigners, says the Swiss Statistics Office. That’s a […]
Poll shows over 70 percent of Swiss want to ban full veils
Tribune de Genève. In March 2016, a group known as the Egerkingen committee, started the process of collecting the 100,000 signatures required to launch a federal referendum to ban the wearing of full veils in Switzerland. The Egerkingen committee, or Egerkinger Komittee, made the news in 2009, when a referendum it launched to ban the […]
The one Swiss canton where the population is declining
In 2015, Switzerland’s population rose by 1.1%, slower than in the previous two years, reaching a total of 8,327,100, an increase of 89,500. Increases in 2013 (+1.3%) and 2014 (+1.2%), were slightly higher. While the increase was largely due to immigration, the net effect of births and deaths, or natural growth, also added to the […]
Forced under age marriages spike in Switzerland
24 Heures. Swiss authorities have recorded a growing number of cases of girls under the age of 16 being forced into marriage. The Zurich newspaper NZZ am Sonntag recently revealed numbers from a centre in Zurich, that aids victims of forced mariage, showing an increase of nearly 70% in the number of victims in 2016 […]
More than 1,300 illegal migrants entered Switzerland in the first week of July
20 Minutes. During the first week of July, Swiss immigration officers witnessed a rise in the number of people illegally entering Switzerland. A record number of more than 1,300 people were stopped at the border in Ticino after illegally entering the country between 4 and 10 July. The majority, 665, were from Eritrea. According to […]
