Can the Swiss Abroad salvage their image?

Members of the Council of the Swiss Abroad at a workshop in Bern this week. SWI swissinfo.ch / Melanie Eichenberger

Members of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) want to improve the standing of the diaspora among Swiss people back home. However, as a recent workshop in Bern found out, this isn’t an easy task.

Ahead of a meeting of the Council of the Swiss Abroad on March 21, Council delegates gathered at the Federal Palace in Bern for a workshop. The theme: “The untapped potential of the Swiss Abroad”.

Delegates and the OSA already acknowledged last year that Swiss citizens living abroad are struggling with an image problem. Now, they are gathering arguments to counter what they call negative “generalisations” about the community.

In four working groups, they sought answers on Friday to various questions like “what do the Swiss Abroad bring to Switzerland?”, “How can the community network be used?”, and “How can prejudices be overcome?”

Too many negative views about the Swiss Abroad

When people in Switzerland speak about their compatriots living beyond the country’s borders, too many still see them as profiteers who want to have their cake and eat it too – in other words, who want a political voice in Switzerland without paying taxes there.

The last big wave of such resentment came during campaigning ahead of the March 2024 vote on a 13th monthly pension payment, when the Swiss People’s Party made pensions for emigrants into a political issue.

Faced by such negative press, delegates of the Council of the Swiss Abroad said on Friday that the diaspora had “much more to offer”. “We are ambassadors,” was their unanimous message – not just emigrant pensioners who are all too often dismissed as “parasites”.

Many Swiss nationals living abroad accomplish great things away from the public eye, the delegates argued. Back in Switzerland, this often goes unrecognised.

Meanwhile Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, who answered delegates’ questions after the workshop, said that “in the polarised world we live in today, if you are not criticised, then you have no significance”.

Lack of networking

Perhaps the very concept of “Swiss Abroad” is outdated – as well as the term itself. One working group proposed that it would be better to speak of “mobile Swiss” from now on.

There was also discussion about whether traditional Swiss emigrant associations remain relevant. Today’s generation of citizens living abroad are often not involved in such clubs.

“We need to know the addresses of our compatriots. They are also our voters right now,” said a delegate from South Africa. SWI swissinfo.ch / Melanie Eichenberger

As a result, it has become harder for the global Swiss community to network among itself. New structures are lacking or haven’t yet become effective, while the old ones are too little known or no longer appealing to many.

‘We need to know the addresses of our compatriots’

One working group focused on the issue of data protection, which is strictly upheld by the Swiss consular system. Although the Swiss authorities have contact details for all registered Swiss Abroad, it does not share this data with organisations seeking to network or with associations hoping to reach out to newly arrived compatriots.

“We need to know the addresses of our compatriots. They are also our voters right now,” said one delegate from South Africa, referring to upcoming elections for the Council of the Swiss Abroad. “But the clubs can’t write to the diaspora community.”

In some countries, embassies and consulates have newsletter channels which they regularly make available to local clubs. However, the willingness of Swiss representations to support networking varies, and not all embassies and consulates attach the same importance to fostering connections within the community.

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Translated from German using DeepL/amva,dos