Back in the days when mobile phones looked like the one pictured below, the Swiss voted on whether to join the EEA (European Economic Area), a precursor to EU membership. On 6 December 1992, 78.9% of Swiss voters turned out to vote, the highest turnout seen in Switzerland over the last 45 years. The traditional voting divide between French […]
Swiss town pays instead of taking refugees
Le Matin reported that the commune of Oberwil-Lieli, in the Canton of Aargau in Switzerland, has decided to spend CHF 290,000 to avoid taking refugees. The CHF 290,000 sum, included in the municipality’s revised 2016 budget, was accepted by a majority of the commune’s assembly last Friday. At the same time commune leaders have been […]
Swiss citizenship refused for wearing the wrong clothes
20 Minutes. It seems Scottish comedian Billy Connolly’s saying: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing…” can be applied to applications for Swiss citizenship. The newspaper Basellandschaftliche Zeitung, recently reported that a Kosovar family had been refused citizenship in the Swiss town of Bubendorf in the canton of Basel Landschaft. One […]
Most Swiss put EU agreements before immigration quotas according to survey
24 Heures. According to a survey conducted by GfS Bern, only 36% of Swiss would support the UDC/SVP’s 2014 initiative against mass immigration if forced to choose between it and maintaining bilateral agreements with the EU, which include an open door policy towards EU nationals. Of the remaining 64%, 47% are against the initiative and 17% […]
Muslim pupils in Basel must shake teachers’ hands
Tribune de Genève. Teachers in the Swiss canton of Basel-Landschaft will soon have the right to demand school children shake their hands. Under new rules, the parents of children who don’t comply could face fines as high as CHF 5,000. In addition, the dispensation, granted to two muslim pupils at Therwil secondary school earlier in the […]
Government close to removing Swiss nationality for the first time
Le Matin. Bern has started the process of stripping an individual of their Swiss nationality for national security reasons. The move is the first in half a century. The week before last, the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) launched a procedure to remove Swiss nationality from a 19 year old man from Winterthur, reported the Tages-Anzeiger last […]
Swiss cabinet member walks out over immigration clash
24 Heures. Last week Swiss federal councillor Simonetta Sommaruga walked out of parliament after being harshly criticised by members of the Swiss people’s party (UDC/SVP) during a debate about extending the free movement of people to Croatia. Under the terms of the European Union agreement on the free movement of people, Switzerland is required to […]
Confusion surrounds start date of tighter Swiss naturalisation rules
GHI. Expected to come into force on 1 January 2017 across the country, confusion now surrounds the date the new rules will take effect, reports the Geneva weekly newspaper GHI. Bernard Gut, director of Geneva’s population and migration office (OCPM), told RTS in early March the new rules would be applied from 1 January 2017. Now […]
Prayers in Geneva airport cafeteria spark anger
GHI. Muslim bag handlers at Geneva airport have been stopping work several times a day to pray in a common area, and it has been causing friction, reports the Geneva weekly newspaper GHI. “It’s incredible. Last January we reported that some of our colleagues were regularly praying in the common room, but it has continued […]
10 facts about Switzerland’s illegal immigrants
A recent study by the Swiss state secretariat for migrants (SEM) estimates that there were 76,000 illegal immigrants or san-papiers living in Switzerland in 2015. The 88 page document presents some interesting facts about this elusive group. 1. Most arrive undeclared or on tourist visas Across the country, 63% slipped over the border without declaring their presence […]
