MPs want the offenders’ nationality to be ‘systematically disclosed’; faced with shortages, Swiss hospitals recruit more nurses from Eastern Europe; and other news in our roundup on Wednesday.
Offenders’ nationality to be made public, MPs decide
The Council of States on Tuesday approved a parliamentary motion requiring Swiss police to systematically disclose the nationality of offenders.
Concretely, the motion calls for the police to “disclose the age, sex, and nationality of perpetrators, suspects, and victims when informing the public, provided there are no grounds for protecting privacy or that no one can be identified in this way.”
The motion further points out that, as a matter of transparency, “there is no reason to conceal the nationality of the perpetrator of a crime.”
Swiss hospitals increasingly depend on staff from Eastern Europe, as nursing shortages reach record levels.
According to new data from the Swiss Health Observatory (OBSAN), one-third of nurses currently working in Switzerland hold a foreign diploma.
In border cantons like Geneva, Neuchâtel, and Vaud, this figure even exceeds 65 percent.
But despite the significant influx of personnel from abroad, many positions in this field still remain vacant.
Therefore, recruitment is increasingly shifting to eastern EU countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, OBSAN reported.
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The launch of a planned cross-border night train is delayed
The train operator European Sleeper has postponed its plans for a night train connection through Switzerland: instead of launching it in June, it will begin on September 9th.
Furthermore, the planned Swiss route has also been changed, as the Utrecht-based railway company announced on Tuesday
Concretely, the night train will now travel from Brussels to Milan via Cologne and Zurich.
Originally, a connection via Bern and through the Simplon Pass had been considered.
The reason for the delay and the changed route is the planned construction work in Germany and on the Simplon line in Switzerland. The approval process for the journey through Switzerland has also delayed the launch.
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‘The Crans-Montana effect’: Employers are stepping up first-aid training in the workplace
Following the deadly fire in a Crans-Montana bar on January 1st, the Swiss First Aid Training Center has seen a sharp increase in requests for first-aid courses for companies: compared to the same period last year, bookings in the corporate sector have increased by approximately 50 percent.
The organisation reports that in recent weeks “there has been a marked increase in attention to first aid, workplace emergency management, and fire prevention. More and more companies are taking steps to ensure that employees are prepared to respond quickly and effectively.”
A similar trend is also observed from the fire protection sector, where record-breaking course enrolments are being recorded.
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