FACES OF THE WORLD
Switzerland has 8.3 million inhabitants, a quarter of whom are migrants from 193 countries. One person from each appears in a new photo book, The Switzers, by photographers Reiner Roduner and Roland Schmid.
For Roduner, who initiated the three-year project, it all began with a photo he took of an Ethiopian farmer while travelling for work. It was the first time he had managed to take such an intimate and extraordinary portrait. The man’s eyes told his entire life story.
Roduner later read that Switzerland was home to people from practically every country in the world. The idea was born: find an interesting person from every nation and take their portrait. Get so close to them that their eyes reflect their personal history.
All of these people make up an important part of Switzerland’s identity. Identity is in constant flux and is defined by the people who make up a society. This book reflects what they have to say about their new home.
(Text: from the foreword to the book, Images: Reiner Roduner, Roland Schmid)
SOURCE: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/faces-of-the-world_the-switzers—the-193-nationalities-of-switzerland/42599802
Categories: Europe, Switzerland
With out constant flow of immigrants, western society and economy would bleed to death.
According to population projections made by Eurostat in 2013, without migrants, Europe’s population would decline from 507.3 million in 2015 to 399.2 million by 2080. In roughly 65 years, a hundred million people (20%) would disappear. Country by country, the figures seemed even were more terrifying. By 2080, in Germany, 80 million people today would become 50 million. In Spain, 46.4 million people would become 30 million. In Italy, 60 million would decline to 39 million.
Some countries would be more stable: by 2080, France, with 66 million in 2015 would grow to 68.7 million, and England, with 67 million in 2015, would shrink only to approximately 65 million.
Is migration in itself a “bad” thing? Of course not. Migration from low-income countries to higher-income countries is almost a law of nature. As long as the number of births and deaths remains larger than the number of migrants, the result is considered beneficial. But when migration becomes the major contributor to population growth, the situation changes and what should be a simple evolution becomes a revolution.
Why did France, Germany and many other countries of the European Union opt for massive immigration, without saying it and without letting voters debate it? Perhaps because they thought a new population of taxpayers could help save their healthcare and retirement systems. To avoid the bankruptcy of social security and the social troubles of “dissatisfied retirees,” the EU took the risk of transforming more or less homogenous nation-states into multicultural societies.
IA
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk