by Anny Misa Hefti
Switzerland has one of the most restrictive immigration laws in Europe. Yet Switzerland is very dependent upon its foreign work force. One quarter of the entire volume of work is carried out by gainfully employed foreign nationals. The philippine migrant community belong to one of the minority groups. Filipinas work in hospitals and nursing homes; as domestic workers in foreign embassies or in private households as undocumented employees. Many Filipinas married to Swiss citizens have acquired the Swiss citizenship and therefore not usually incorporated in phillipine data. Nevertheless, the issues facing the Filipinas are not much different from the issues women of color experience. The paper delves on these issues, as well as the issues that the New Foreign Policy of Switzerland entail.
It has become a clichè to say that international migration, the movement of people across international boundaries, has considerable economic, social and cultural implications in both origin and destination countries. Countless of papers written on the subject and the ensuing discourse has occupied literature from geography to best sellers novels. Yet the issues are hardly taken off the „report“ level. The results of dozen of researches regarding migration have long been bound and has found their places on the shelves. UN reports that in 2005 international migrants numbered 191M, 3% of the total world population. Europe hosted 34% of all migrants. Nearly half of all migrants worldwide are women. In the developed countries, they are more numerous than male migrants.(UN , 2006). These figures hold global significance. The issues cannot be forestalled any longer. The impact of international migration is taking a toll in all aspects of society.
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