Switzerland’s Non-EU Immigrants: Their Integration And Swiss Attitudes
Thursday, August 6th, 2009By Julie Schindall for Migration Information Source
Over the past few decades, Switzerland — which brought over thousands of guest workers from southern Europe after World War II — has also become home to a large population from the Balkans, along with immigrants from Asia and Africa.
Many originally came to Switzerland seeking protection, in contrast to Switzerland’s other, more numerous foreign residents: present-day European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) citizens who came to work in Switzerland either as guest workers or under a bilateral agreement that since 2002 allows EU/EFTA citizens to live and work freely in the country (the European Union has 27 Member States while EFTA has four including Switzerland).