Skyguide faces a storm of challenges while Switzerland intensifies deportation flights.
Keystone/CHRISTIAN BEUTLER
Skyguide in crisis, more special deportation flights and the failure to regulate wolves: this and more can be found in the Sunday newspapers. The headlines in unverified reports:
NZZ am Sonntag: Internal Crisis
The Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) is investing around two million Swiss francs in external management, team-building and diversity consultants, according to research by the NZZ am Sonntag.
The service wants to use the external help to overcome a deep internal crisis. Most of the money is going to a personnel consulting firm from Olten. Last week, the Department of Defence published a contract with dot consulting AG on the federal procurement platform with a cost ceiling of around CHF 1.7 million.
The company has been working behind the scenes for the FIS since 2020 and was already awarded a contract worth a quarter of a million francs last year.
NZZ am Sonntag: Defence Department
President Viola Amherd’s Defense Department (DDPS) campaigned strongly and successfully for a relaxation of the ban on Hamas. This emerges from previously unpublished documents that the “NZZ am Sonntag”.
The first version of the ban envisaged banning not only Hamas, but also “organizations and groups that correspond to Hamas in terms of leadership, objectives and means”. The DDPS opposed this in the official consultation, arguing that this would “clearly position Switzerland as pro-Israel and anti-Iran”.
SonntagsBlick: SBB Cameras
The SBB transport police are to be equipped with bodycams by the end of June. This was announced internally by Michael Perler, the commander of the corps, according to SonntagsBlick. What has been planned for years is now to be implemented in the next few months following clarification of data protection issues and the integration of the new system into SBB’s IT.
SBB spokesman Reto Schärli states that the cameras are an element of SBB’s security strategy. Trained railroad police officers should be equipped with them.
SonntagsBlick: Skyguide Under Pressure
Skyguide, the Swiss air navigation service provider, is facing major challenges: Technical failures, economic pressure and staff shortages have led to a series of breakdowns that have shaken confidence in the company.
In an internal letter obtained by “SonntagsBlick”, Chief Technology Officer Klaus Meier sounds the alarm: “We are in a crisis,” he wrote to around 1,500 employees on March 8.
He describes the current situation as a “perfect storm” of technical problems, negative media coverage and discussions with the supervisory authority, the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (Bazl).
SonntagsBlick: More ADHD
Patients in Switzerland have to wait up to a year for an ADHD assessment, a survey by SonntagsBlick shows. Some practices have even stopped accepting patients due to overcrowding. Some are responding with online discussion groups or self-help groups to bridge the waiting times.
Susanne Walitza from the Psychiatric University Clinic Zurich has noticed that more pre-school children have been coming for assessment in recent years. It is also noticeable that significantly more students suspect they have ADHD.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the number of people receiving ADHD medication such as Ritalin rose from 60,000 in 2019 to an estimated 92,000 in 2023, according to an analysis conducted by Helsana on behalf of the newspaper.
SonntagsZeitung: Wolves
27 wolves were shot in the canton of Valais. The aim was to eliminate entire packs. According to the SonntagsZeitung, recent observations show that this has probably not been successful. The canton’s presence map shows that wolves have been spotted repeatedly in recent weeks and at various locations in the catchment area of the Augstbord and Hérens packs, including adult leader animals.
There could therefore be offspring again in the spring. “The observations indicate that not a single pack could be completely removed in Valais,” said David Gerke from the Wolf Switzerland group. For him, the data also shows how adaptable the wolf is.
SonntagsZeitung: Swiss Steal Trouble
The largest Swiss steel producer, Swiss Steel, is on the verge of insolvency. The company therefore urgently needs fresh capital. It was previously unclear who would inject fresh money.
Amag owner Martin Haefner has assured that, in the worst-case scenario, he alone will Swiss Steel. Peter Spuhler, however, who holds 20 percent of the shares, wants to say goodbye to the steel manufacturer.
Spuhler told the “SonntagsZeitung” that he “does not want to participate in the capital increase at Swiss Steel because the required conditions have not been met by Haefner or the Board of Directors”. He will remain a shareholder for the time being, but is seeking “an orderly exit from Swiss Steel”.
SonntagsZeitung: Deportations
Switzerland deported significantly more people on special flights last year. There were a total of 49 flights with 339 rejected asylum seekers, as the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) told the SonntagsZeitung newspaper.
That is almost three times as many people as in the previous year, when 28 missions with 124 people took place. The record of 345 deportations by special flight from 2016 was almost broken. Asylum seekers with a negative decision have the option of leaving Switzerland voluntarily.
They are offered return assistance of at least CHF 1,000. If people decide against this and do not want to leave on a scheduled flight, a special flight is used as a last resort.
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