Following in the footsteps of the Senate, the House of Representatives rejected the text on Thursday by 121 votes to 65, despite the fact that it is not binding on the Confederation’s migration policy.
The Pact, adopted by the UN in December 2018, is a comprehensive framework for action to improve international cooperation in the field of migration.
“Although not legally binding, the Pact contains political commitments in several areas,” said committee rapporteur Christian Wasserfallen. It gives the same rights to all migrants, whether regular or irregular. “In practice, however, this is not the case.
The left and the Federal Council supported ratification. Migration is a fact and cannot be prevented,” said parliamentarian Samira Marti. The pact aims to manage it better. In vain.
The Senate voted against ratification by 26 votes to 7, with 11 abstentions.
This content was published on
Immigration, support for Ukraine and pandemic measures polarise opinions and emotions in Switzerland particularly strongly.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Politics
In Switzerland, New Year brings ‘burka ban’ and pension hikes
Have you heard something about Swiss diplomacy that you’d like us to fact check?
Not all information circulating about Switzerland’s foreign relations is accurate or well understood. Tell us what you'd like us to fact check or clarify.
WEF: Trump to speak virtually, Zelensky to appear in person
This content was published on
US President-elect Donald Trump will attend this year's annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos via video conference. He is scheduled to speak on January 23.
Coop washes its hands of The Body Shop in Switzerland
This content was published on
The Body Shop is facing closure in Switzerland. Retailer Coop is no longer extending the franchise agreement for its cosmetics subsidiary.
Three out of ten Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland have a job
This content was published on
More and more refugees from Ukraine have a job in Switzerland. The employment rate of people with protection status S was just under 30% at the end of 2024.
Swiss private companies invest CHF18 billion in research
This content was published on
In 2023, private companies in Switzerland spent CHF18 billion ($19.7 billion) on their own research and development. This is CHF1.2 billion more than in 2021.
This content was published on
Lindt & Sprüngli grew strongly in 2024. The Swiss chocolate manufacturer is also aiming for above-average growth in the current financial year.
‘Surprisingly few’ signatures invalid for ban on animal testing
This content was published on
The initiative to ban animal testing was submitted in November with around 127,600 signatures. "Surprisingly few" signatures are not valid, the initiative's organisers have now said.
Geneva hosts Iran nuclear talks before return of Trump
This content was published on
Iran and the main European powers began two days of talks in Geneva on Iran's nuclear programme on Monday, a week ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration as US president.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.