This weekend a local politician (Guido Graf) made national and international headlines calling for a Swiss Green Card to be created for highly qualified asylum seekers. First of all he feels that the whole asylum seeker and immigration issue should be directed by the UN instead of by each country separately. Presumably this way avoiding having countries refusing to take asylum seekers in. He suggests that Switzerland create a Swiss Green Card which would be available for highly qualified asylum seekers who could come into the country for a specific job and a specific period of time. Whether his idea catches on remains to be seen.
The SBB is planning on removing over 150 ticket machines in their train stations as people’s buying habits are changing. A study revealed that these machines were being used less than 20 times a day. The SBB and Fairtiq app have made it much simpler to buy tickets on smartphones, whether this will be a problem for older generations remains to be seen.
A violent burglar of Serbian origin has been sentenced to 18 months prison and will then have to leave the country for 6 years following a bout of burglaries in the region. He had been living in Switzerland for the past 25 years and has been condemned over 10 times for various crimes. The judge argued that the man was showing high criminal energy and no sign of wanting to lead an honest life.
