Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
More and more of you are choosing a life in the Gulf states. Within just one year, the diaspora has increased by 23%.
In addition, we bring you the latest survey on the Swiss mood, the new roadmap for the buried mountain village of Blatten and the Swiss Army's trimmed drone project.
Warm greetings from Bern
The desert is calling: More and more Swiss people are moving to the sunny Gulf states. Attractive jobs, tax-free incomes and a modern lifestyle beckon.
“Is the Middle East the new destination for emigration?,” asks Blick today. The numbers speak for themselves: The Swiss population in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has grown by a whopping 23% within a year – from 3,400 people at the end of 2023 to 4,200 at the end of 2024.
This is not least due to the fact that many multinational companies have their regional centers here and are looking for highly-skilled workers. In addition, there is no income tax, which is of course attractive. Smaller Gulf states such as Oman and Qatar are also trying to attract new talent with special incentive programmes, such as long-term residence permits.
While the Middle East is becoming more and more popular, Western countries such as the US, UK, Germany or Spain are making immigration more and more difficult with stricter visa rules.
Switzerland presents itself as an island of happiness: the majority of the population is very satisfied with their lives, but financial worries and pressure to perform remain real challenges.
Four out of five people in Switzerland are satisfied with their own lives. This is shown by the latest survey by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation – Swissinfo’s parent company. More than 55,000 people took part. Private life in particular contributes to satisfaction, “although recently one crisis followed the other and some things in the world have come apart at the seams,” as our colleague Marco Morell writes.
However, this also means that one fifth of the population is dissatisfied with their lives . According to the survey, these are mainly people who suffer from the high Swiss prices, health problems or the pressure to perform in society.
The view of the future has darkened, especially with regard to the future of the next generation. And the foundation of common values that holds Switzerland together has also weakened.
On May 28, 2025, the Blatten landslide buried almost the entire village in the Valais Lötschental. Now the roadmap for reconstruction has been presented. The new village is to be ready by 2029.
New houses, a large bridge and a protective dam: The mountain village of Blatten is to be rebuilt – but in a safe place, it was said at the presentation on Wednesday evening. Because there are still movements on the Nesthorn, from where part of the mountain and the Birch glacier had buried the village.
It is still unclear where exactly the new village is to be built. However, this will not be far from the original village centre. Clearance and security work has already been underway for several weeks.
In order to speed up the construction work, the canton has declared emergency law. “The timetable is very ambitious, but doable. We have to roll up our sleeves and move forward,” said municipality president Matthias Bellwald to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
The Federal Council is clipping the wings of the army’s crisis-ridden drone project. It is to be downsized and the government wants to make do without certain bells and whistles.
The headline in the Aargauer Zeitung today shouted “300 million and only problems”. In the morning, Defence Minister Martin Pfister provided information on the jinxed purchase of six Israeli ADS 15 reconnaissance drones .
The new drones, of which only five of the six aircraft ordered are in Switzerland – the last one is to be delivered by the end of the year – are still not in use despite years of development. The supplier companies had “repeatedly failed to comply with contractual milestones,” said the Federal Office for Armasuisse.
Pfister said that they were faced with the options of cancelling the exercise or redimensioning the project: “Continuing as before is not an option.” The government now wants to do without certain functions of the drones: no automatic avoidance system, no system for GPS-independent take-offs and no de-icing system.
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