In a press release this morning, Switzerland’s federal government announced a ban on all events involving more than 1,000 people. “In view of the current situation and the spread of the coronavirus, the Federal Council has categorised the situation in Switzerland as ‘particular’ in terms of the Epidemics Act. Large-scale events involving more than 1000 […]
Geneva regularises nearly 2,400 illegal immigrants
In 2017, the canton of Geneva launched a programme called Operation Papyrus to issue residence permits to undocumented foreigners living in the canton. Not all undocumented foreigners qualified for the scheme. Only those able to prove ten years of residence, if they had no children, or five years of residence if they had children, were […]
Geneva would like to offer Assange refuge
The canton of Geneva could ask Bern to issue a humanitarian visa to Julian Assange, the 48 year old WikiLeaks founder, according to the newspaper Tribune de Genève. Jean Rossiaud, a member of the canton’s parliament and the Green party, is behind the project. Last week he confirmed on Swiss television that he had met […]
Geneva considers more voting rights for foreigners
The government of the canton of Geneva is considering extending voting rights to some of the canton’s large population of foreign residents, according to Tribune de Genève. 41% of the canton’s population are not Swiss. The plan, supported by a majority of a commission (8 votes to 5 with 1 abstention) looking at the idea, […]
Terrorist attack planned in Geneva
A terrorist attack was planned on a fuel storage facility near the airport in Vernier in the canton of Geneva, according to the newspaper Le Temps. Swiss members of the Islamic State group, led by a man with the alias Abu Ilias al-Swisri, planned to blow up the facility in April or May 2019, according […]
Swiss extends China flight cancellations
Lufthansa Group, which includes Swiss, announced that it is extending the cancellation of flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Shenyang and Quingdao until 28 March 2020. An earlier suspension ran until 9 February, which was then extended to 29 February 2020. The airline is offering free refund or rebooking for flights to/from mainland China. Flights to […]
No need to switch phones to flight mode on Swiss
Since 1 February 2020, switching devices to flight mode is no longer required on Swiss, according to the newspaper Blick. However, flights through US airspace will still require flight mode because of US regulations. While there are no documented cases of transmitting and receiving personal electronic devices (T-PEDs) compromising flight safety, regulators have applied the […]
Strasbourg calls on Switzerland to repatriate children of jihadists
Last week a majority of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) formally called on the leaders of member nations, including Switzerland, to repatriate the children of their jihadists nationals held in camps in Syria and Iraq. PACE, a 47-nation organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, called on member States to actively repatriate, rehabilitate and (re)integrate these […]
Dual nationality in Switzerland – nearly 1 in 5
In 2018, 18.1% of Swiss citizens 15 years old or older living in Switzerland held another nationality, according to figures recently published by the Federal Statistical Office. Over 8 years this percentage has risen by 4.3 percentage points. In 2010, the same percentage was 13.8%. The percentage in 2017 was the same as in 2018. […]
Geneva makes road signs gender equal
Geneva’s roughly 500 road crossing signs once all bore an icon of a man wearing a hat. Recently, the city decided to take down half of these signs and replace them with 250 signs containing six different icons of women, which include young, old and pregnant women. Serge Dal Busco, the state councillor in charge […]
