Italian immigration to Switzerland
The Italian immigration to Switzerland began on a large scale in the late 19th century; most immigrants, which reached the country in this period, returned with the increase in the fascism in their country to Italy. The later Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini emigrated himself in 1902 in Switzerland to be after he was involved in the radical movement just not deported.
Italians have long been the largest group of immigrants in Switzerland, surpassed only by the Serbs and Croats in the 1990s. Italians a large minority in Switzerland, which has about 300,000 local members in 2007 remain (excluding those with dual citizenship ). In 2008 there was a small decrease of Italian immigration, as for decades the immigration of Italians balance remained positive ( 2,213 new immigrants in Switzerland).
Origin and settlement areas
The Italo Swiss are not to be confused with the inhabitants of the Italian Switzerland, which form a large indigenous population in the Italian-speaking Ticino and Graubünden. Overall, the Swiss were 527 817 Italian-speaking. In addition, 295 507 immigrants from Italy.
Most Italians in Switzerland come from Lombardy (15%), Campania (13.1%), Apulia ( 12.4% ), Sicily (12.1%) and Veneto ( 8.4%). You speak as a native language, the dialects of their regions of origin, besides as a Second Language, German and French; they are mostly Roman Catholic. They are highly concentrated in Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Lugano and Zurich.
Immigrant worker
A new wave of immigration began after 1945, supported by the lax immigration laws, which entered into force. First, the Swiss government promoted the arrival of guest workers by giving it stood them different types of work permits: To some it was forbidden to change their work, starting with the " frontalière " permission which was given to the Italians who lived near the Swiss border, up to the "C" license, which guaranteed the same status of a Swiss citizen minus the political rights.
In 1970 there were one million immigrants in Switzerland, 54 percent of whom were Italians. 1963 " Anti- Italian party ", the Swiss non-partisan movement to strengthen the people's rights and direct democracy was founded by Albert Stocker in Zurich. Like any other immigrant group in time the Italians were faced with the policy of forced assimilation or integration, later satirisiert in the highly successful 1978 comedy film The Swiss maker, which was the fifth most Watched movie in Switzerland.
Many descendants of Italian immigrants have also adopted the Swiss nationality and therefore belong to the group of so-called second-generation immigrants.