Today in Switzerland: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
Find out what's going on today in Switzerland with The Local's short roundup of the news.
Swiss government urged to step up search for Russian money
The Social Democratic Party is demanding the establishment of a special task force to find where in Switzerland Russian oligarchs have hidden their assets.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office, the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and experts from the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters must have an overview of all the funds, real estate, and works of art stored in Switzerland, the party said.
“Active neutrality does not mean looking away, but being an advocate of international law and fundamental rights”, said MP Mattea Meyer.
In particular, the money laundering legislation and the law on embargoes must be improved, according to Meyer. “We must put an end to the attitude of ‘as long as the rubles roll, we look elsewhere’. It's anything but neutral”.
READ MORE: EXPLAINED: Why Switzerland is a magnet for Russian money
Swiss health care system relies "too much" on foreigners
In its latest report, the Federation of Swiss Doctors (FMH) is sounding the alarm because Switzerland’s medical system "depends on foreign countries" too much.
Medical statistics for 2021 show that 38.4 percent of physicians who currently practice in Switzerland hold a foreign diploma – a proportion that has been steadily increasing over the years, FMH said.
Doctors of foreign origin mainly come from Germany (52 percent), Italy (9.2 percent), France (7.2) and Austria (6).
The reason for the growing number of foreign physicians is that Swiss doctors are aging — currently, one in four are over the age of 60 — but fewer Swiss doctors are being trained to take their place.
Third-generation naturalisation process “disappointing”
The Federal Migration Commission (FMC) drew a disappointing assessment of a facilitated naturalisation process for the third-generation foreigners. The criteria set for obtaining cititzenship for this group of people is not simple.
“This is one of the reasons why we have such a large foreign presence in Switzerland: because the law makes access to naturalisation particularly difficult", according to Rosita Fibbi, migration sociologist at the University of Neuchâtel.
“Many countries have introduced simpler procedures for people born there... this is not the case in Switzerland", she added..
READ MORE: EXPLAINED: Why so few third-generation Swiss are actually ‘Swiss’?
SwissCovid app to be deactivated
After April 1st, SwissCovid will disappear from the Apple and Google app stores, according to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).
“With the lifting of the obligation to isolate in April, the prerequisites for an effective continuation of the SwissCovid app are no longer there, since contact tracing will be greatly reduced”, said FOPH spokesperson Katrin Holenstein.
Depending on how the epidemiological situation develops in the winter of 2022/2023, the operation of the SwissCovid app could be resumed quickly. Therefore, the necessary IT infrastructures will continue to be maintained, she said.
The app was launched in June 2020 to track infection chains.
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
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Swiss government urged to step up search for Russian money
The Social Democratic Party is demanding the establishment of a special task force to find where in Switzerland Russian oligarchs have hidden their assets.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office, the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and experts from the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters must have an overview of all the funds, real estate, and works of art stored in Switzerland, the party said.
“Active neutrality does not mean looking away, but being an advocate of international law and fundamental rights”, said MP Mattea Meyer.
In particular, the money laundering legislation and the law on embargoes must be improved, according to Meyer. “We must put an end to the attitude of ‘as long as the rubles roll, we look elsewhere’. It's anything but neutral”.
READ MORE: EXPLAINED: Why Switzerland is a magnet for Russian money
Swiss health care system relies "too much" on foreigners
In its latest report, the Federation of Swiss Doctors (FMH) is sounding the alarm because Switzerland’s medical system "depends on foreign countries" too much.
Medical statistics for 2021 show that 38.4 percent of physicians who currently practice in Switzerland hold a foreign diploma – a proportion that has been steadily increasing over the years, FMH said.
Doctors of foreign origin mainly come from Germany (52 percent), Italy (9.2 percent), France (7.2) and Austria (6).
The reason for the growing number of foreign physicians is that Swiss doctors are aging — currently, one in four are over the age of 60 — but fewer Swiss doctors are being trained to take their place.
Third-generation naturalisation process “disappointing”
The Federal Migration Commission (FMC) drew a disappointing assessment of a facilitated naturalisation process for the third-generation foreigners. The criteria set for obtaining cititzenship for this group of people is not simple.
“This is one of the reasons why we have such a large foreign presence in Switzerland: because the law makes access to naturalisation particularly difficult", according to Rosita Fibbi, migration sociologist at the University of Neuchâtel.
“Many countries have introduced simpler procedures for people born there... this is not the case in Switzerland", she added..
READ MORE: EXPLAINED: Why so few third-generation Swiss are actually ‘Swiss’?
SwissCovid app to be deactivated
After April 1st, SwissCovid will disappear from the Apple and Google app stores, according to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).
“With the lifting of the obligation to isolate in April, the prerequisites for an effective continuation of the SwissCovid app are no longer there, since contact tracing will be greatly reduced”, said FOPH spokesperson Katrin Holenstein.
Depending on how the epidemiological situation develops in the winter of 2022/2023, the operation of the SwissCovid app could be resumed quickly. Therefore, the necessary IT infrastructures will continue to be maintained, she said.
The app was launched in June 2020 to track infection chains.
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]
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