Switzerland
Recent stories
Integration report focuses on causes of youth violence
A study, carried out by the Federal Foreigners' Commission as part of its integration programme, concludes that while violent young foreigners are overrepresented in crime statistics the roots of the problem are not ethnic, but do with a young person's social environment.
23 May 2006 (81 words)
Federal Migration Office releases integration report
Unemployment, particularly amongst young foreigners, is highlighted in a Federal Migration Office report which warns that unemployment among foreigners is twice as high as among Swiss nationals and that people of foreign origin are also more likely to live below the poverty line.
2 May 2006 (79 words)
Referendum on asylum and foreigners law
The Coalition for a Humanitarian Switzerland, which comprises leftwing parties, churches and charities has collected more than 16,000 signatures against the new asylum and foreigners law (passed in April 2006), thus forcing a referendum on the issue.
8 April 2006 (179 words)
Swiss People's Party doesn't want to contribute to new eastern states
The general assembly of the Swiss People's Party has proposed collecting signatures for a referendum challenging Switzerland's $770m contribution to the ten new EU member states.
8 April 2006 (110 words)
Concern that Islamophobia will dominate parliamentary elections
The Muslim Association of Switzerland is concerned that mainstream political parties will use Islamophobia as an electoral tool in the 2007 parliamentary elections.
29 March 2006 (125 words)
Swiss People's Party force referendum on naturalisation
The Swiss People's Party has forced a nationwide ballot for its 'people's initiative for "democratic naturalisations"'.
10 January 2006 (109 words)
Blocher forced to defend handling of terror suspect
A 31-year-old suspect Mohamed Achraf had been arrested for theft and immigration violations in Switzerland at the end of August and had been held in a low-security detention centre awaiting deportation.
31 December 2004 (120 words)
Jews furious at extremism slur
The annual report from the domestic intelligence service on the risks of political violence and extremism described some Jewish youth as armed radicals and mentioned the possibility of 'violent extremism' among some Jews and referred to the conduct of associations fighting for the Zionist cause.
31 December 2004 (142 words)
Measures to combat hooliganism and racism announced
The government, which has been worried about hooliganism and racism at football grounds in the run-up to the 2008 football championships, is examining proposals to set up databases about troublemakers which would allow the authorities to follow the movements of violent fans.
25 December 2004 (74 words)
Polls suggest Muslims feel integrated
A poll by the MIS institute, published in a Lausanne magazine in December, refuted allegations by right-wing forces, Muslims are not having difficulties in integrating into Swiss society.
20 December 2004 (152 words)
Far-right parties want referendum on EU relationship
In December the People's Party, along with the far-right Swiss Democrats began a campaign for a referendum on the Schengen Treaty and Dublin Accords which relate to security co-operation and labour agreement between the EU member states and Switzerland.
19 December 2004 (70 words)
Education of imams in dispute
The Swiss Bishops' conference and Swiss Protestant church federation have suggested that imams who lead prayers in Swiss mosques should be educated in Swiss universities.
24 November 2004 (113 words)
Zurich MP leads fight against forced marriage
Rosmarie Zapfl-Helbling, MP is spearheading a debate on forced marriage at the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly in Strasbourg.
21 October 2004 (65 words)
People's Party campaigns against dual citizenship
The rightwing Swiss People's Party has been campaigning to abolish dual nationality.
13 October 2004 (81 words)
SVP to carry on with high-profile campaigning
After its highly effective and rabidly xenophobic poster campaign (which included a much-criticised poster featuring Osama bin Laden on a Swiss identity card) the SVP has announced its next campaign, against Switzerland joining the EU's Schengen accord on cross-border crime.
8 October 2004 (82 words)
Referendum rejects loosening rules on nationality
The referendum held on 26 September rejected government proposals to ease naturalisation rules for foreigners raised and schooled in the country and to give citizenship to Swiss-born grandchildren of migrants.
28 September 2004 (68 words)
Far-Right ad campaign on citizenship denounced
An advertising campaign in various national papers, orchestrated by Goal, an agency owned by a controversial psychologist Alexander Segrette, who supports the SVP, has been warning against voting in favour of amendments to the citizenship laws which could make Muslims into a majority community.
28 September 2004 (198 words)
People's Party tries to control immigration and asylum agenda
The Swiss People's Party (SVP) is trying, via the appointment of Christoph Blocher as Minister for Justice and Police, to control the agenda on immigration.
2 September 2004 (177 words)
Hooligans, not extreme-right pose problem says government
According to a government report, neither the extreme right nor the extreme left pose a threat to safety in Switzerland and the climate surrounding foreign, political or religious extremist groups is 'calm but tense'.
28 August 2004 (80 words)
Swiss NGO accuses police of racism
A report by a Swiss anti-racism platform called CRAN, based on eye witness accounts, accuses the police of violence and brutality against black people, especially foreigners.
26 August 2004 (152 words)
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