Switzerland

"Theoretical background and objectives This project considers two common assumptions that arise in the empirical literature on xenophobia—namely that xenophobic attitudes are found mostly among the poorly educated, and that xenophobia mainly concerns immigrants from low social classes and from geographically and culturally disparate nations. These arguments are discussed in the context of the migration of high-skilled Germans to Switzerland, a phenomenon that has increased markedly in the last few years, leading to major controversies. One might expect that the Swiss do not perceive Germans as a cultural threat as they are, at least at first sight, culturally similar. This argument can however be questioned in two ways. We first have to differentiate between objective similarity and subjectively perceived dissimilarity. As it turns out, the cultural difference between Germans and Swiss-Germans is considered to be very large in Switzerland. Second, some argue that boundaries between groups that are culturally very close are not necessarily less fragile. In a second step we question the common generalisation that working class people are more often xenophobic because they fear that immigrants take their jobs. As we are confronted in the case at hand with highly educated immigrants, it might be that in this case well-educated people in high positions feel threatened by the new arrivals. This would disconfirm the argument according to which better-educated people are more tolerant as they are more open-minded and have more cognitive capacities for differentiated perceptions. Research design, data and methodology To investigate our arguments both quantitative and qualitative data are analysed. In a first step, data from a survey conducted in the city of Zurich between October 1994 and March will be analysed. This is so far the only survey that includes relevant questions about German immigrants. More recent data on this topic will be collected in the context of the 2011 Swiss electoral survey (see project 2.5 above). Moreover, data from five focus group interviews with Swiss and Germans will be analysed. On the one hand, this allows us to better understand which arguments Swiss use to justify attitudes towards Germans and which aspects they dislike/criticise for which reasons. On the other hand, we will be in the position to study how Germans think about Swiss, why Germans migrated to Switzerland and how they feel abroad. Findings It turned out that German immigrants put in danger Swiss characteristics as much as immigrants from the Balkans. Socio-economic factors turned out to be relevant, too. Contrary to many other studies I found that education does not improve attitudes towards Germans. At the same time, I found that people who are young and seek to improve their job position are significantly more Germanophobic than those who are satisfied with their current job situation and are already established. It appears that as much as low-skilled workers fear that poorly educated immigrants take their jobs, well-educated Swiss consider German immigrants as competitors on the job market."

Between 2010 and 2021, the percentage increase of Romanian nationals in Switzerland reached 295.1%, a trend likely to continue. Additionally, Romania is the second largest beneficiary of Swiss cohesion funding. It shouldn’t be surprising, therefore, that understanding diasporas and migrant communities is the first step towards evidence-based policymaking in Switzerland. But whom to engage and how? Andra-Lucia Martinescu and Catalina Moisescu explored this question in their policy brief by using the case study of the Romanian diaspora in Switzerland.

This report outlines the findings of a two-year analysis of media coverage of the Indian community in Switzerland. The focus of this study is on issues related to business/investment, crime, education, labour market, culture, integration initiatives and religion. The analysis revealed that the Indian community in Switzerland receives relatively little attention in the media.

Labour Market Integration in Austria, Norway and Switzerland

Protracted humanitarian crisis particularly affects the most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly. Due to insufficient social protection/public welfare services and based on negotiated rules of intergenerational solidarity, seniors rely on their families (especially women) for support and care. Crisis-induced “survival migration” creates transnational families and raises questions of care for parents remaining in the countries of origin. The fact that little is known about transnational caregiving strategies in the specific context of crisis-induced migration-or the gender dimensions involved in coordinating and performing such care-justifies the need for additional in-depth research to better understand this important subject. The project aims to investigate the perceptions and strategies of transnational care for elderly parents remaining in (crisis-affected) countries of origin, particularly focusing on gender, filial duty and reciprocity and how they structure care dynamics. By combining an intersectional approach with critical agency, subjectivities and individual strategies are conceptualized as interrelated within a broader context of structural inequality and power relations. The project focuses on two cases of protracted humanitarian crisis migration: Syrian migrants in Switzerland and Venezuelan migrants in Chile and Peru. These crisis-induced migratory flows can be read as “South-North” and “South-South” migration and constitute an ideal ground of comparison in the examination of transnational care dynamics. The proposed methodological approach systematically analyzes the perspectives/practices of transnational households and networks by including both sides of the transnational caregiving relationships, consisting of: 40 narrative, problem-centered interviews with Syrian men and women in Switzerland and 100 with Venezuelan men and women in Peru (60) and Chile (40); 20 semi-structured interviews with parents in Syria and 60 with parents in Venezuela; and analysis of legal documents and migration policies. The project will address knowledge gaps in transnational care, gender and migration studies in the context of protracted humanitarian crisis, offering new insight into intergenerational and gendered questions of caregiving, reciprocity and moral duties of filial piety, as well as caregiving negotiations within wider transnational kinship networks. The proposed research will produce original findings that will inform the future design and implementation of undergraduate, master or doctoral-level courses and academic programs at partner universities, as well as in the field of continuing education for professionals and other actors related to issues of migration in protracted humanitarian crises, care and gender. Results are expected to impact public policies and support systems (e.g., social work) addressing migration, caregiving and family dynamics, both within and across relevant countries (Chile, Peru, Switzerland). The project builds on and deepens existing South-South/South-North academic networks by proposing further cooperation between HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland School of Social Work Fribourg (Switzerland), OST-Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland), the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP, Peru), the University of Tarapacá (Chile) and the Catholic University Silva Henríquez (Chile).

Protracted humanitarian crisis particularly affects the most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly. Due to insufficient social protection/public welfare services and based on negotiated rules of intergenerational solidarity, seniors rely on their families (especially women) for support and care. Crisis-induced “survival migration” creates transnational families and raises questions of care for parents remaining in the countries of origin. The fact that little is known about transnational caregiving strategies in the specific context of crisis-induced migration-or the gender dimensions involved in coordinating and performing such care-justifies the need for additional in-depth research to better understand this important subject. The project aims to investigate the perceptions and strategies of transnational care for elderly parents remaining in (crisis-affected) countries of origin, particularly focusing on gender, filial duty and reciprocity and how they structure care dynamics. By combining an intersectional approach with critical agency, subjectivities and individual strategies are conceptualized as interrelated within a broader context of structural inequality and power relations. The project focuses on two cases of protracted humanitarian crisis migration: Syrian migrants in Switzerland and Venezuelan migrants in Chile and Peru. These crisis-induced migratory flows can be read as “South-North” and “South-South” migration and constitute an ideal ground of comparison in the examination of transnational care dynamics. The proposed methodological approach systematically analyzes the perspectives/practices of transnational households and networks by including both sides of the transnational caregiving relationships, consisting of: 40 narrative, problem-centered interviews with Syrian men and women in Switzerland and 100 with Venezuelan men and women in Peru (60) and Chile (40); 20 semi-structured interviews with parents in Syria and 60 with parents in Venezuela; and analysis of legal documents and migration policies. The project will address knowledge gaps in transnational care, gender and migration studies in the context of protracted humanitarian crisis, offering new insight into intergenerational and gendered questions of caregiving, reciprocity and moral duties of filial piety, as well as caregiving negotiations within wider transnational kinship networks. The proposed research will produce original findings that will inform the future design and implementation of undergraduate, master or doctoral-level courses and academic programs at partner universities, as well as in the field of continuing education for professionals and other actors related to issues of migration in protracted humanitarian crises, care and gender. Results are expected to impact public policies and support systems (e.g., social work) addressing migration, caregiving and family dynamics, both within and across relevant countries (Chile, Peru, Switzerland). The project builds on and deepens existing South-South/South-North academic networks by proposing further cooperation between HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland School of Social Work Fribourg (Switzerland), OST-Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland), the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP, Peru), the University of Tarapacá (Chile) and the Catholic University Silva Henríquez (Chile).

The study is implemented parallel to the EU-wide project "Health Care in Nowhereland-Improving Services for Undocumented Migrants in the EU" (funded by DG SANCO and coordinated by the Danube University Krems), which analyses the regulatory frameworks, health care practices and migrant strategies in 27 EU countries. The results of the Swiss study will be integrated into the EU project. Objectives • To situate the Swiss case in the wider European context • To work out the main similarities and differences between the respective national health care systems and practices at the intersection of welfare and irregular migration Outcomes • Analysis of the national regulatory and financial framework to which the respective health care institutions dealing with “undocumented” migrants are bound to act • Collection of data on different practices of administrations and health care institutions providing health care to "undocumented" migrants • Identification of transferable best practice models • Overview of the various health problems “undocumented” migrants show and how these migrants manoeuvre in order to get the medical assistance needed

The Quarterly report aims to provide an overview of key asylum trends by analysing data regarding applications for international protection made by asylum seekers, pending cases and decisions made on applications by European Member States and Associate Countries (Norway and Switzerland).

Recent trends in migrants' flows and stocks 2005, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017 Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.

The database consists of data on the political opportunity structure (POS) in 7 Western European countries (Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and United Kingdom) between 1990 and 2009. A number of indicators are included to cover generic and issue-specific political opportunity structures (immigration-related). The data were collected as part of the FP7-funded project Support and Opposition to Migration.

The Special Rapporteur observed two underlying causes for the dynamic of racism and xenophobia in Switzerland: deep-rooted cultural resistance within Swiss society to the multiculturalization process, especially where persons of South-Eastern European and non-European origin are concerned, and the growing prevalence of racist and xenophobic stances in political programmes and discourse, particularly during elections and various votes.

Objectives • To analyse on a regular basis trends of asylum related flows in 11 countries - Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland (ICMPD Member States). • To understand the main problems in terms of reliability and comparability of data Outcomes • Continuous evaluation on trends of asylum related flows based on: • Analysis of available data and definitions used by ICMPD Member States • Data management and data exchange mechanisms applied by ICMPD Member States.

The Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) is a useful tool that measures policies to integrate migrants in all EU Member States, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and the USA. 167 policy indicators have been developed to create a rich, multi-dimensional picture of migrants’ opportunities to participate in society. The index is a tool to evaluate and compare what governments are doing to promote the integration of migrants in the countries analysed.

Over the last decade, the European Commission has launched several procedures concerning the compatibility of hydropower right granting with European laws and regulations in several countries (e.g. France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, etc.). Meanwhile, other hydropower regimes (e.g. in Austria or Sweden) are not subject of such investigations despite not being grounded on competitive process. This difference of treatment raises questions about the drivers of the European Commission actions. Understanding and grabbing the main differences between the national hydropower regimes is then of particular interest. This report aims at providing a benchmarking of hydropower concession regimes in Europe, describing hydropower regimes in 14 European countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Great-Britain, Greece, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland) and regions when appropriate (e.g. cantons in Switzerland or Lands/States in Germany). This report describes and scrutinizes hydropower regimes through a unified analysis framework to ensure their comparison on an equal basis. This framework is structured around 4 blocks: 1. The institutional framework of hydropower regimes (e.g. type of rights to use hydropower, authorities granting rights to use hydropower, etc.) 2. The framework for granting right to use hydropower (duration of rights and procedure, competitive process and existence of a possible EC infringement procedure). 3. The obligations of the hydropower operator (environmental and investment obligations and royalties). 4. Small hydro characterisation and support schemes.

MIPEX is a unique tool to compare and evaluate governments’ integration policies in all EU Member States and several non-EU countries (Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and the USA). 167 policy indicators have been developed to create a rich, multi-dimensional picture of migrants’ opportunities to participate in society. The index is a useful tool to evaluate and compare what governments are doing to promote the integration of migrants in all the countries analysed.