Migration:

Lecture, co-sponsored by MIT, Program on Human Rights & Justice and the Consulate of Switzerland Boston

 

 

• Can migration be managed?


• Does strict regulation of immigration prevent irregular migration?


• Can Switzerland uphold its humanitarian tradition when it comes to immigration?


• What does the free movement of persons in Europe mean for Switzerland?

 

Lecture on Switzerland’s Approach to a Global Phenomenon by

 

Urs Ziswiler, Ambassador of Switzerland to the United States

 

Moderated by

 

Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Director MIT Program on Human Rights + Justice

 

Legal Immigrants, Illegal Immigrants, Asylum Seekers; Curse or Blessing?

 

(Globe Staff Photo / Essdras M Suarey)

 

Switzerland has a long tradition as a host country for migrants. Today it has one of the highest immigration rates in Europe, and more than a fifth of its population is foreign born. Most recently, the country has experienced an increase in migrants from the former Yugoslavia, Turkey and non-European countries.

 

To face these new challenges, Switzerland has formulated an active integration policy, revised its Asylum Act and introduced a new Aliens Act. It has devoted a great deal of effort to fighting human trafficking, has developed voluntary return assistance programs, a new concept of migration partnerships, and has actively contributed to the international dialogue on migration.

 

Please join us for a lecture on Switzerland’s search for new and innovative ways to address migration to the benefit of all concerned; bring in your point of view, your questions.

 

Reception for attendees after the lecture, offered by the Consulate of Switzerland

 

Free Admission.

 

 

Swiss Ambassador to the United States, Urs Ziswiler

Prior to his current posting, he served as Head of the Political Directorate of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Bern, the second highest ranking diplomat in the Swiss Foreign Service. In this capacity, he was also Vice- Chairman of the Presence Switzerland (PRS) Commission, Switzerland’s public outreach agency.

Previously, Mr. Ziswiler served as a Senior Diplomatic Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.  Since joining the Foreign Service in 1979, Ambassador Ziswiler has held a number of diplomatic postings both in Bern and abroad. He was appointed as Ambassador of Switzerland to Canada and the Bahamas (1999-2004), Chargé d’affaires a.i. in Zagreb for Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1993, and Deputy Head of Mission in Buenos Aires (1994-1995) and Tel Aviv (1988-1990). From 1980-1985, he was Deputy Head of Mission at the Swiss embassies in Kinshasa, Lagos, and Oslo, and also served at the Swiss Mission to the European Union in Brussels.

In Bern, Ambassador Ziswiler served as Head of the Political Division for Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy and Coordinator for International Refugee Policy (1995-1999), Spokesman and Head of the Information Department of the European Integration Office (1990-1992), and in the same office, also was the Chairman of the EFTA Trade Committee (1987) and managed relationships with the EFTA countries and the former Yugoslavia (1985-1988).

Ambassador Ziswiler began his career as a junior expert for the World Bank in Madagascar and later served as a Delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Beirut, Gaza, Tel Aviv, and Kampala. He holds a law degree from the Universities of Geneva and Zurich and has a post-graduate diploma on developing countries from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.