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IMMIGRATION

Immigration remains ‘top issue’ of Swiss voters

Immigration and integration of foreigners remain the biggest concern of Swiss voters, according to a survey conducted for the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation six months ahead of national elections.

Immigration remains 'top issue' of Swiss voters
Anti-immigration poster. Photo: AFP

The poll conducted last month found that 49 percent of voters rank immigration, integration and the issue of refugees seeking asylum in the country as the nation’s biggest problems.

The issue came in front of worries about bilateral relations with the European Union, ranked as a top concern by 24 percent of respondents, and the environment, seen as a major problem by 12 percent of voters.

By contrast, the strong Swiss franc, which has worried economic forecasters, was only considered a problem by three percent of respondents.

The survey findings reported by the state broadcaster on Tuesday night also showed that the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) remained the most popular among voters with 26.2 percent of support, up from 24.6 percent in October 2014, although down slightly from the 26.6 percent backing it received in the 2011 elections..

The SVP has called for restrictions on immigration and launched the successful initiative, approved by Swiss voters in February 2014, to cap the number of immigrants from the EU.

The survey showed the Socialist party with the second highest level of support at 19.6 percent (down from 20.1 percent in October 2014), while the centre-right Liberals gained backing at 16.3 percent, up from 15.8 percent.

The Christian Democrats received the support of 11.8 percent (up from 11.2 percent), while the Greens registered 7.5 percent support (up from 7.3 percent).

How to explain the ongoing concern with immigration?

“Switzerland is a small country with a percentage of non-Swiss living in the country that is very, very high — higher than in other countries,” Andreas Ladner, a professor at the University of Lausanne who specializes in law and public administration, told RTS.

Immigration every year brings an average of 80,000 immigrants into the country, he noted.

“There are practically no other countries in Europe where immigrants make up one percent of the population immigrating every year.”

The UDC is capitalizing on worries about the issue.

But Etienne Piquet, an academic who has written a book about immigration in Switzerland, told ATS that clear responses are needed to counteract “exaggerated fears” about immigrants.

Contrary to some perceptions, for example, the rate of Muslim immigration into the country is very low, Piguet said.

Meanwhile, “the risk of unemployment linked to immigration is practically non-existent”, he said.

But Piguet said that does not stop some people from fearing for their jobs.

And some people may worry about the “transformation of their neighbourhood” with new cultures that arrive, he said.

The survey also points to apprehension about an influx of refugees from war torn Iraq and Syria, a worry common to other European countries.

The poll of 2,011 people living in all of Switzerland’s linguistic regions was taken between March 11th and 19th.  

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IMMIGRATION

ANALYSIS: Will immigration to Switzerland continue to grow or could it slow?

In the past few years, an increasing number of foreigners have come to Switzerland, swelling the ranks of its population to 9 million people. Will this trend continue in the future?

ANALYSIS: Will immigration to Switzerland continue to grow or could it slow?

From a country of just 8 million people a decade ago, Switzerland’s population grew to over 9 million residents in 2023 — primarily due to more foreign nationals coming in.

“Switzerland has been in a situation of uninterrupted demographic growth for several decades, and this is explained in particular by the arrival of young migrants, who also contribute to the Swiss birth rate,” Philippe Wanner, professor at the Institute of Demography and Social Economics at the University of Geneva told The Local.

Just in the period between July 2022 and July 2023, for instance, more than 90,000 foreigners settled in Switzerland.

Now forecasts call for the population to swell to 10 million within the next decade — which has prompted the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) to collect enough signatures to launch a national vote in the near future to stop more foreigners from coming into the country.

The SVP argues that Switzerland’s infrastructure — including housing, healthcare system, and public transportation — would not be able to withstand so many more residents.

READ ALSO : Switzerland faces new anti-immigration vote 

This is based on the assumption that as many — or even more — foreigners will continue to move to Switzerland in future, attracted by salaries that are quite a bit higher than the wages they would earn for the same kind of work in their home countries.

But is there a credible scenario under which immigration will slow down?

According to Swiss demographer Hendrik Budliger, high immigration numbers in recent years “don’t necessarily mean the trend will continue.”

Certain things would have to happen at the political and economic level, however — both in Switzerland and abroad — for this scenario to become reality.

These are the main ones:

Fewer people leaving their home countries

One factor, according to Budliger, would be that other countries in Europe that are grappling with labour shortages as Switzerland is “will try to retain or bring back their workforce.”

In Italy and Portugal, for instance, “significant tax deductions are granted” to keep their workers from leaving.

“If more countries create such [financial] incentives to retain employees, Switzerland will become less attractive,” he pointed out.

Economist Manuel Buchmann agreed that  “EU nations themselves need this skilled workforce and are willing to do a lot to ensure that their nationals don’t leave the country.”

Fewer job vacancies in Switzerland

The country is suffering from an acute shortage of qualified workers — the main reason why many employers are hiring workforce from the EU and EFTA (Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein) nations.

If, however, Switzerland’s low unemployment rate should increase, or if suitable candidates can be found within the country, then companies will not recruit employees from abroad.

This is especially true as the Swiss law stipulates that a job can be offered to a foreign national only if no qualified candidates can be found in Switzerland.

Anti-immigration initiatives are accepted

In 2020, 61.7 percent of voters turned down SVP’s proposal to curb immigration from the EU.

This meant that Swiss companies could continue to recruit from those countries.

However, if voters decide to go the opposite way — for instance, by accepting the SVP’s latest anti-immigration proposal — then the government would have to implement measures to drastically curb the number of foreigners coming into the country.

READ ALSO: Why Switzerland can’t rely on foreign workers to fill its labour shortages

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