Worry barometer War is greatest worry for the Swiss By swissinfo.ch and agencies Jul 31, 2015 – 09:58 War is the greatest worry for people in neutral Switzerland (Keystone) Almost half (43%) of Swiss are worried about war, according to a nationwide representative survey. Perhaps surprisingly, immigration was ranked only […]
REFUGEES Asylum requests increase by almost half JUL 20, 2015 – 14:35 An end of the road for refugees? (Keystone) Requests for refugee status rose sharply in Switzerland during the second quarter of 2015, with a 47% increase in numbers compared with the same period last year, according to official […]
BORDER CLOSURE Bishop slams calls to shut refugees out JUL 26, 2015 – 13:19 Border guard at the border between Switzerland and Italy is about to check a group of people at the Chiasso station (Keystone) The head of Switzerland’s biggest Roman Catholic diocese has strongly criticised proposals by politicians […]
FOREIGN POPULATION Non-Swiss permanent residents close to two million JUL 23, 2015 – 19:22 The immigration dispute that sparked this 2014 demonstration is far from over (Keystone) Switzerland experienced a net gain of more than 38,000 foreigners who became permanent residents in the first half of the year, a trend […]
JUL 22, 2015 – 13:20 The Swiss army is coming to the aid of a canton struggling to accommodate asylum seekers by pitching tents for them to temporarily live in. […]
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION Banned Islamic kindergarten deemed too religious JUL 21, 2015 – swissinfo.ch A court has upheld a decision by the Canton Zurich authorities to deny an application to set up an Islamic kindergarten. The ruling agreed that there was a risk the kindergarten could lean too heavily towards religious […]
BUSINESS IS BREWING Swiss investors welcome Iran nuclear deal http://tp.srgssr.ch/p/inline?urn=urn:swi:video:41552328 EMBED CODE JUL 17, 2015 – 11:00 Swiss business leaders are waiting impatiently for trade to open up with Iran, following a nuclear deal paving the way for the lifting of sanctions. (RTS/swissinfo.ch) The agreement with Iran concludes 12 […]
IMMIGRATION Majority of Swiss ready to welcome refugee centres By Anand Chandrasekhar JUL 15, 2015 – 17:45 Over 60% of Swiss surveyed were ready to share an evening meal with refugees (Keystone) According to a survey commissioned by the French-language weekly Hebdo, the majority of Swiss do not have […]
JIHAD FIGHTERS Twelve jihadists from Switzerland believed dead JUL 17, 2015 – 15:22 One of the main destinations for jihadists from Switzerland is Syria (Keystone) A dozen people who left Switzerland to fight in jihadist conflicts are now believed dead, according to the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service […]
By Ariane Gigon, Kilchberg swissinfo.ch JUL 6, 2015 – 11:00 While the debate on language learning continues to provoke strong reactions in Switzerland, linguistic exchanges are on the rise, although […]
CULTURAL PROPERTY Swiss return ancient cultural objects to Egypt JUN 1, 2015 – 12:32 A selection of the 32 ancient artefacts recently returned to the Egyptian Embassy in Bern. (Federal Office of Culture) Switzerland has returned 32 cultural treasures dating from the Pharaonic and Roman periods to the Egyptian Embassy […]
HEAT WAVE Temperature record set in Geneva JUL 7, 2015 – 20:47 During a week-long heat wave, the thermometer in Geneva has hit 39.7 degrees Celsius, the highest temperature ever recorded north of the Alps in Switzerland. The shores of Lake Geneva have been packed with swimmers trying to cool […]
By Gaby Ochsenbein swissinfo.ch The European Union’s inability to agree on a plan to distribute refugees across its 28 countries according to a binding quota system shocked professor of migration […]
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON Immigrants in Switzerland are well integrated, says OECD JUL 2, 2015 – 19:22 Education success in Switzerland was a weak point for immigrants, the OECD found (Keystone) Immigrants moving to Switzerland integrate quite easily, especially into the job market. But poverty levels and training possibilities are problematic, an […]
TEMPORARY RESIDENCE Limbo status for migrants creates problems By Stefania Summermatter swissinfo.ch JUN 29, 2015 – 11:00 In late May there were over 31,000 people registered with an ‘F’ permit (Keystone) “Temporary residence” status was created to guarantee short-term protection to unsuccessful asylum seekers in Switzerland before they could be sent home. […]
JUN 22, 2015 – swissinfo.ch Foreign immigrants are expected to account for more than 80% of Switzerland’s population increase in the next 30 years, according to projections from the Federal Statistical Office. The number of people living in Switzerland is forecast to rise from 8.2 million at present to 10.2 […]
HUMANITARIAN AID Swiss Solidarity distributes CHF46 million JUN 17, 2015 – 14:54 Swiss Solidarity has helped Syrian refugees, such as these camping near the Turkish border. (Keystone) Charity Swiss Solidarity supported 175 projects to the tune of CHF46.6 million ($50 million) last year. Most of it went towards Syrian as […]
JUN 12, 2015 – 17:15 SWISSINFO.CH The Swiss cabinet announced on Friday that it has added arms and other war materiel to the sanctions it has imposed as a result of the crisis in Yemen. The decision supported measures taken in a United Nations Security Council embargo […]
DIGITAL SENIORS Offline seniors risk social isolation By Isobel Leybold-Johnson, Zurich swissinfo.ch JUN 8, 2015 – 11:00 Some seniors take courses to fill gaps in their online and computer knowledge (Ex-press) Although internet use is increasing among the older generation in Switzerland, a sizeable proportion of seniors are […]
‘IMPROPER PROCEDURE’ Swiss arrest of former Bosnian military commander criticised JUN 12, 2015 – 20:15 On Friday several hundred war veterans in Bosnia protested Wednesday’s arrest of Naser Oric in Geneva (swissinfo.ch) Swiss authorities followed improper procedure in their arrest of former Bosnian Muslim military commander Naser Oric in Geneva […]