Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
For a long time, Syrians were responsible for the most asylum claims in the EU and Switzerland. They are now dethroned by another, rather unexpected nationality.
"I twint, you twint, we twint." In Switzerland payment by Twint has become so common that it has almost assumed verb status. The Competition Commission is investigating the company after a complaint about Twint's high fees.
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Asylum applications fell by 23% in Europe during the first half of 2025, the European Union Agency for Asylum said on Monday. Switzerland is in seventh place for applications.
According to the Agency, the drop is a consequence of the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Syrians had been the top nationality among asylum seekers for a decade but their numbers have fallen by two-thirds in the last few months. Asylum seekers from Venezuela now occupy first place.
This drastic reduction is therefore not as a result of political changes that have taken place in the EU, which is under strong pressure to tighten its migration policy, the agency notes in its report.
France is the country that received the most applications during this period, ahead of Spain and Germany. Switzerland comes in seventh place, with applications coming primarily from Afghans, Eritreans and Turks.
At the beginning of the autumn parliamentary session, the House of Representatives is looking into the salaries of the bosses of the big banks. The Senate is looking into strengthening higher vocational education.
The House of Representatives is considering a motion calling for the salaries of bank bosses to be limited to a range of between three and five million francs per year. The relevant committee recommends that the motion be supported by a broad margin, but that its application to systemically important banks should be limited and that there should be no fixed remuneration ceiling.
The Senate will deal with issues relating to the economy, education and research. Among other things, it is due to decide on a Federal Council project to improve the attractiveness of universities with new diploma names, such as “Professional Bachelor” and “Professional Master”.
During the session, parliament will also deal with several topics related to the Swiss Abroad, starting with the financing of the 13th old-age and survivors’ pension. A social security agreement between Switzerland and Argentina, a country in which more than 15,000 Swiss nationals reside, must also be approved by the Senate.
According to Le Temps, the dazzling success of the Swiss payment application Twint has attracted the attention of the authorities. A complaint was made by the Federation of Swiss Retailers on Twint’s pricing practices.
Launched in 2017 in its current version, Twint has established itself as a national standard, to the point of becoming part of everyday language. The mobile payment app claims more than six million users, and 773 million transactions in 2024.
For the Federation of Swiss Retailers, the company is a little too greedy when it comes to fees. In a complaint filed with the Competition Commission (Comco), it denounces fees close to those of credit cards even though Twint is directly linked to bank accounts. “We believe that these amounts should instead be aligned with the prices charged for debit cards,” says the umbrella organisation.
For former Comco chairman Walter Stoffel, Twint’s dominance is not obvious, but “the question of dominance in certain markets or possible relative power can nevertheless arise.” Green parliamentarian Sophie Michaud Gigon points out the growing dependence of SMEs on this system. The Comco’s investigation will have to determine whether Twint is taking undue advantage of its growing weight.
A Bernese centre for young girls has experienced several serious incidents, including a mutiny requiring the intervention of the police. The episode highlights the growing difficulty of supervising adolescent girls who are increasingly prone to violence and mental disorders, according to the newspapers of the Tamedia press group.
With 28 places, the Lory Centre, located in Münsingen near Bern, is the largest Swiss school for delinquent girls aged 13 to 22. More and more young girls who are admitted to these schools are prone to violence and sometimes have serious psychological problems.
According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), the convictions of female minors have increased by 25% over the last five years, while those of their male counterparts have increased by 17%. The gap widens even further for violent offences. While the number of male convictions is stagnating in this area, it has risen by a quarter among young women, although the absolute figures remain low.
For Dirk Baier, professor of criminology at the University of Zurich, this development can be explained by the “enormous psychological load on young women”, combined with the lack of therapy places. As a result the serious cases are concentrated among a few institutions, which increases the risk of escalation. Specialists are calling for a strengthening of reception capacities, particularly for accommodation in a closed environment.
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