Integration an issue in debate over quotas for foreigners

The integration of foreigners - a major issue in Swittzerland Keystone

The proposal to limit the number of foreigners in Switzerland to 18 per cent, which goes to a nationwide vote on Sunday, has brought the whole question of integration into sharp focus.

Although almost 20 per cent of Switzerland’s population is now foreign, many of the foreign communities stick together. The Swiss themselves are increasingly reluctant to live in areas with high numbers of foreigners, or to send their children to schools with foreign children.

The Swiss government recently announced it would make SFr10 million available for integration projects nationwide. Many Swiss believe that the issue of foreigners would not be so controversial if the foreign community were better integrated, especially in terms of language.

Claudia Omar, the education director for the city of Berne who is also responsible for integration, is particularly concerned that foreign children – who now make up 30 per cent of the capital’s school population – should be better integrated.

“We must make sure they learn German quickly, and well,” she said. “And not just to make life easier for teachers and Swiss children. If you look at the statistics, foreign children in Berne are much less likely than Swiss children to go on to vocational training after school, and their chances of going to high school or university are lower still. This is something we should be very concerned about.”

Omar does not believe the 18 per cent initiative is a solution to the question of foreigners in Switzerland. “It’s neither practical nor reasonable. For a start, many of the foreigners work here, the city needs them.”

Instead Claudia Omar encourages Swiss citizens to view the foreign population in a positive light. “The foreigners can teach us about new cultures, and other countries, and can bring us new languages and new skills. This is good for a modern society.”

Omar also points out that the number of foreigners in Switzerland would not be so high, if Swiss citizenship were not so difficult to get. “Here in Berne, two-thirds of the foreign population have lived here for more than 10 years or were born here. In other European countries such people would have been naturalised years ago. Switzerland is the most difficult country in Europe in which to get citizenship, and it is costly too. We need a much more liberal law.”

Omar welcomes the Swiss government’s commitment to make money available for integration projects, although she feels the sum is rather small. “SFr10 million for the whole country is tiny, but it is at least a start.”

For the future, Omar dreams of a multicultural Swiss capital, in which all ethnic groups can mix and enjoy the benefits of one another’s different cultures and traditions.

“What I hope for is a city where no one says anymore, ‘that person there is foreign, what are they doing here?’ Instead I want them to say: that person came to our town many years ago, and now they belong here.”

by Imogen Foulkes