The number of immigrants in Switzerland without a legal residence permit has continued to drop over the past few years, according to the Swiss Border Guards.
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تراجع قياسي لعدد حالات الهجرة غير الشرعية إلى سويسرا
The national law enforcement agency said it recorded 16,563 cases in 2019, down from 27,300 in 2018 and 48,830 the year before.
The overall number of illegal stays has plummeted by nearly 75% since 2015, according to the news agency, Keystone-SDA.
Immigrants from Nigeria made up the biggest group last year, ahead of citizens from Albania, Algeria, Gambia and Morocco, according to data published by the Federal Customs Administration on Wednesday.
In comparison, illegal immigrants from Eritrea topped the list in 2016.
Most people (6,489) without a legal residence permit in Switzerland were picked up while travelling on trains, nearly 5,500 in road vehicles, about 950 on planes and almost 20 on boats trying to cross the border.
Last year, the security forces also arrested 405 suspected human traffickers, most of them Syrians, Turks and Swiss.
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Switzerland and Italy have begun joint border patrols following a deal aimed at combatting illegal immigration between the two neighbouring countries.
Swiss price watchdog slams excessive prices for generic medicines
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The cheapest generic medicines available in Switzerland are more than twice as expensive as in other countries, according to a study by the Swiss price watchdog.
Nature should not figure in net zero calculations: academic study
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The natural removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by forests or oceans should not be included in the net-zero balance of climate protection measures, argue researchers.
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None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.
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Nestlé's new CEO Laurent Freixe, has presented plans for the future of the world's largest food company, after his first few weeks in office.
Swiss foreign minister calls on Moscow to end Ukraine war
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It's high time Moscow ended its war against Ukraine, Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis tells the UN Security Council.
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The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.
Study reveals food culture differences between Switzerland and neighbours
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Three-quarters of Swiss people consider eating to be a pleasurable, social activity, a new survey reveals. Healthy eating, however, plays a much less important role, it found.
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Switzerland sees influx of Guinean asylum seekers
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A total of 339 Guineans filed official requests for asylum in Switzerland between January and March 2017, a 280% increase on the same period last year. Neighbouring Germany recorded 1,275 Guinean asylum seekers, an even bigger rise of 600% for the first quarter of 2017 compared with 2016. During the same period, 1,100 people from…
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Around 3,500 undocumented migrants living in Geneva are expected to be regularised under the ‘Papyrus’ scheme launched in 2015.
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