10 Million Switzerland Initiative: Beat Jans answers your reader questions

Mr. Federal Councilor, let’s start with the knife attack in Winterthur. The users – especially female users – want to know: What are your words to the victims?
My thoughts are with you and I wish you a speedy recovery. It is now particularly important for me as Justice Minister to draw the right conclusions. We must do everything possible to ensure that such attacks by Islamists or mentally disturbed people never happen again.

Our users also want to know: Is this act a result of migration? The perpetrator is a dual citizen of Turkish origin.
No – and the act really has nothing to do with the initiative.

How many people do you think fit in Switzerland?
I don’t want to give a specific number. There are demographers who even expect the population to shrink from the 2040s. We continue to rely heavily on immigration – also to finance our social welfare schemes such as the AHV.

That things are getting tight, there are traffic jams, and that living is becoming more and more expensive is a real feeling among the population. Politicians have no recipe for this, says user “Luca”.
I do not deny that population growth in recent years poses challenges. But: This initiative with its rigid population cap is not a solution. The Federal Council has compared the initiative with a package of measures. This includes, among other things, resolutions that promote affordable housing. The cantons and municipalities are responsible in many areas, but Luca can also advocate for such issues in his community.

They argue that the initiative “can endanger their health,” but of the total annual immigrants, only a few thousand work in the healthcare system, many users complain.
Many doctors will soon be retiring. We will therefore need many new doctors in the next few years, including from abroad. There is a shortage of staff not only in the healthcare sector, but also in SMEs, in the construction sector, in waste collection and in the catering industry.

User “Brigitte” wants to know what happens if she votes yes on June 14th.
Personally, I’m assuming it’s a no, but if it’s a yes, I say: If the people want it, we’ll implement the constitutional text. However, there would be great uncertainty from voting Sunday onwards. Companies would have difficulty planning. That’s not good for the economy. And I say openly that it will be difficult to maintain the bilateral agreements with the EU.

User “Bruno” wants to know: If the vote is yes, will there be a need for a new Federal Office for the Admission of Foreigners?
We’ll see that. I emphasize: Even now, only those who have a job or are a family member can come. If the vote is yes, a huge bureaucracy would be imposed on the economy. We would have to check whether we would have to reintroduce quotas or a seasonal statute. Switzerland has actually consciously moved away from this.

Various users want to know: Will it not be like the mass immigration initiative, which the SVP believes was not implemented?
I would like to remind you that the Federal Council put a proposal for implementation on the table and took it to Brussels. It was said there that this was not compatible with the free movement of people. Then Parliament – ​​and not the Federal Council – decided on a variant that is compatible with this. In my opinion, this initiative has been implemented correctly.

We mainly received questions from the pro camp. One of the few others came from user “Rosmarie”. She wants to know: “Why can’t the SVP’s lies be exposed more rigorously and why do so many people believe them? I don’t understand it.”
The Swiss are very good at distinguishing between what is a lie and what is not. I don’t want to accuse anyone of lying in this voting campaign. What worries me more is AI faked videos that have suddenly appeared. The Federal Council will soon make proposals on how we can protect democracy from such false information.