Majority of children under six in Switzerland have foreign roots
read aloudX Between 2019 and 2021, six out of ten children under the age of six were living in a household in which at least one parent was born abroad […]
A tale of survival and solidarity: inside Morocco’s deadliest earthquake in a century
On September 8, Morocco was hit by one of its worst earthquakes on record destroying entire villages and killing over 3,000 people. SWI swissinfo.ch spoke to four people who lived through […]
Swiss court grants asylum rights to Afghan women
read aloudX The Federal Administrative Court has upheld an appeal by two Afghan women against their deportation from Switzerland. Consequently, they must be granted asylum in the Alpine country. This […]
Global Refugee Forum ends with bold pledges, solutions for displaced
December 16, 2023 UNHCR distributes relief items to returnees at a transit centre in Renk, South Sudan. — courtesy UNHCR/Andrew McConnell GENEVA — While some of the world’s poorest countries are welcoming refugees “with great hospitality”, the international community must match that generosity with far greater solidarity, UN chief António Guterres […]
Global Refugee Forum takes stock of international response to the biggest human displacement in history
SPECIAL People stand near tents at the Sahlat Al-Banat makeshift camp for internally displaced people set-up next to a waste dump on the outskirts of the northern Syrian city of […]
Amid abuse scandals, Swiss Catholic Church sees wave of departures
Hundreds of Swiss churchgoers have left the Catholic Church following revelations of sexual abuse. This content was published on December 10, 2023 – Keystone-SDA The wave of departures is particularly […]
Volker Türk; 55 conflicts in the world and one UN Human Rights Chief
International Geneva I’m off to the Palais Wilson this week, for a chat with UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk, the last in our series of exclusive interviews with those who lead the UN’s human rights work. You can hear that interview in full in our latest Inside Geneva podcast. […]
Michelle Bachelet: The Universal Declaration is ‘good enough’
International Geneva Michelle Bachelet was United Nations Human Rights Commissioner for four years, until August 2022. Her time in office contained many challenges, from the Covid-19 pandemic, to Russia’s invasion […]
Why Switzerland is piloting a 24-hour asylum procedure for North Africans
Foreign affairs A fast-track decision-making procedure is being tested in Zurich for asylum-seekers from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. What’s behind its introduction? This content was published on November 23, […]
Israeli-Palestinian war spills into the art world
Culture The October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel and subsequent Israeli offensive in Gaza have divided the art world. In Switzerland, the Kunsthalle Basel is defending its newly chosen […]
Former Swiss president: funding freeze for Middle East NGOs ‘more than wrong’
Ruth Dreifuss has criticised Switzerland’s funding freeze for Palestinian and Israeli NGOs, saying it weakens the peace movement on both sides. This content was published on November 11, 2023 – […]
Canton Zurich provides emergency funds for reconstruction in Israel
Foreign affairs read aloudX The Canton of Zurich has pledged CHF500,000 ($555,917) for the survivors of the terrorist attacks in Israel and the reconstruction of the affected villages. The money […]
A Year on, Billions in Afghan Assets Linger in Switzerland
More than a year after the Afghan Fund was created to disburse $3.5 billion in frozen assets for the benefit of the Afghan people, no disbursements have been made. Why? […]
Kosovo and Switzerland: an intense relationship
History Play VideoPlayUnmute Current Time0:00 / Duration6:28 Loaded: 3.80% Edit player settingsFullscreenOpen ‘The Swiss have become more open’ in Play SWIread aloudX For a long time, Kosovars remained invisible in Switzerland. […]
Four out of ten Swiss residents have migration background
read aloudX The percentage of Swiss residents over 15 with a migration background rose by 1% to reach the 40% mark last year, new figures reveal. This content was published […]
Record number of Swiss leave Catholic Church
Almost 34,600 people left the Catholic Church in Switzerland last year. That’s 300 more departures than the previous record figure from 2021. This content was published on October 29, 2023 […]
Afghanistan: the battle to save the sick from sanctions
SOURCE https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/the-battle-to-save-the-sick-from-sanctions/48905250 Banks are reluctant to process funding to sanctioned regimes for fear of breaching the rules. This leads to often dramatic consequences for local populations. Switzerland has been trying to address […]
Deserted churches and fewer believers: Swiss abandon God
Promoted post: Video: How Jesus Became God, by Prof. Bart Ehrman? Source: Swiss Info The non-religious proportion of the population is steadily growing in Switzerland, as in most Western countries. […]
Should Switzerland add a new article on religion to its Constitution?
Swiss Politics The Swiss Federal Constitution says very little about religion. Most religious matters fall within the jurisdiction of the country’s 26 cantons. To mark the Constitution’s 175th anniversary, a […]
Inside Geneva: the journey of Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, the sixth UN Human Rights Commissioner
On Inside Geneva this week: part five of our series marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This content was published on October 3, 2023 – […]