1/5
After the New Year’s riots in Berlin, a debate on migration policy has also broken out in Germany. But the unrest in the German capital cannot simply be transferred to Switzerland.
Sven ZauggEditor’s Sunday view
After the New Year’s riots in Berlin, a debate on migration policy has also broken out in Germany. But the unrest in the German capital cannot simply be transferred to Switzerland.
Abroad, the predominantly young authors are mainly characterized by their anger at the state, unemployment and socialization problems. In Switzerland, however, things are relatively quiet, with the exception of skirmishes under the influence of alcohol and drugs. One can hardly speak of “lost youth”, of “failed integration” or of “migrants left behind”.
Denise Efionayi-Mäder, a migration researcher at the University of Neuchâtel, points out that although not all state efforts are fruitful and integration sometimes takes a long time, conditions are very different from those in large European cities: “The socio-economic situation the conditions in this country are much better”.
12 percent neither in studies nor in teaching
In concrete terms, public schools are equally good everywhere, whether in rich or poor neighborhoods, education funds are available, language courses or private lessons are institutionalized. Furthermore, the dual education system provides an opportunity to advance. According to Efionayi, the procedures have been speeded up with the revision of the asylum law. Refugees spend less time in stand-by mode: the frustration of waiting is less.
But two numbers make us think: in 2021, almost 12 percent of young people aged between 18 and 24 with a first-generation migration background were neither studying nor carrying out an apprenticeship. Nothing has changed in this value for ten years now. In the case of local youth, this is only a good two percent.
E: For temporarily admitted refugees of the same age, the unemployment rate is still above 40% five years after entry. Switzerland cannot be satisfied with this, says migration researcher Efionayi. Looking back over the last few years, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) has established that the integration of training and work between temporarily admitted young people and refugees has “gradually improved”.
SEM spokesman Samuel Wyss says: “This is probably due, among other things, to the various measures recently introduced by the Confederation and the cantons to promote employability.” The strategy of the revised integration agenda: work through education. While before migrants were placed on the labor market as quickly as possible, today the focus is on education and language learning “to meet the growing demands of the Swiss labor market,” explains Wyss.
Lack of equal opportunities
Despite all the measures, it would be presumptuous to talk about equal opportunities, says Efionayi: “The cantonal differences in particular mean that young migrants do not have the same opportunities.” If you end up in the canton of Jura, for example, where jobs are rare, you have to be patient.
The unions see another problem: Unia youth secretary Julius Kopp criticizes the fact that companies often pay employees without a Swiss passport less. He is still far from the ideal of equal pay for equal work and equal access to education and training for all. According to Kopp, the non-recognition of foreign diplomas and precarious residence status are further negative factors in wage determination.
First generation migrants and refugees aged 15-24 are particularly affected. More than 60 percent work as tilers, floor layers, heating or plumbing fitters, and therefore on low wages.
Cheap labor instead of proper training
For many young migrants, the problems start even before the apprenticeship begins. Often they don’t get the apprenticeships they want because they are assigned to certain source groups. E: The difficulties don’t end when the apprenticeship begins.
Trade unionist Kopp: “Instead of receiving an adequate education, young migrants are often used as cheap labour”. This has dramatic consequences: many clatter during the final exam.
Data from the Federal Statistical Office (BFS) show: In 2021, more than 25 percent of apprentices failed the plate layers alone. A representative number of the misery of manual trades with an above-average share of foreigners.
The unions are therefore calling for stricter supervision: “VET offices must monitor training companies more and more systematically,” says Kopp. But last but not least, there is a lack of will and human resources. The professional training offices, in fact, rarely intervene and withdraw the training permit from the offending companies.
Existing structures should be expanded and improved so that Switzerland does not have to discuss “migrants left behind” in the future, says migration researcher Efionayi. And he warns: “If the center-right continues to try to cut those who have been temporarily admitted, we will never achieve the goal of fair integration”.
