A week for the Swiss Abroad

The 95th Congress of the Swiss Abroad – the annual meeting of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) – takes place this year from August 18th-20th in Basel. In honour of this event, which usually welcomes some 400 attendees from all over the world, our stories this week focus on the lives and experiences of the 775,000 Swiss citizens who now reside outside their homeland. Some of the biggest concerns of Swiss citizens living abroad today include better Swiss banking conditions for expats, and e-voting technologies. Keystone

Here's a selection of the stories we will be bringing you in the upcoming week.

Lars Gotsch/swissinfo.ch

Monday

At 104, Agnes Parodi is the oldest Swiss expat. She takes some time out of her busy schedule to give an interview about her past, her life today in Cannes, France, and – most importantly – her friends.

Keystone

Tuesday

The community of Swiss living abroad has struggled to find discrimination-free access to financial services for nearly a decade. The recent refusal of Parliament to create a legal amendment guaranteeing expats the right to open an account with a major Swiss bank was the last straw. Now, the Organisation for the Swiss Abroad is fighting back with a new strategy.

Keystone

Wednesday

“Newland: Swiss Migration Policy in the 21st Century” is a book by University of Bern researcher Philipp Lutz that aims to dispel the notion that migration can be understood as an inherently good or a bad thing. Instead, Lutz argues, we should look at the migration phenomenon as the social reality that it is. Will Lutz’s 20 “theses” that form the centrepiece of his book help to reframe the heated migration debate?

Keystone

Thursday

Last June, a pilot project allowed Swiss nationals in Mexico and Australia to use a digital e-voting system to elect representatives to the Council of the Swiss Abroad. The experiment proved to be a “small revolution” in terms of broadening the electoral base and strengthening democratic legitimacy – especially in regions where the logistics of delivering paper ballots are hard to manage.

Keystone

Sunday

In this week’s instalment of our #WeAreSwissAbroad series, we catch up with Jacqueline Tschumi. Five years ago, Jacqueline left her native Switzerland to do an internship in Japan, and she loved it so much that she decided to stay. As an employee for Nespresso Japan, Jacqueline shares her insights into Japanese business style and work habits, and how they compare to those at home.

What you may have missed last week: