Swiss Review 3/2021

Swiss Review / June 2021 / No.3 28 Notes from the Parliament Building The pandemic has changed the nature of consular services The pandemic that began at the beginning of 2020 also affected Switzerland’s consular network, with work in the area of consular protection and social support becoming more important. At the same time, it has been difficult or impossible to visit consular representa- tions in person due to the Covid restrictions that have hampered freedom of movement. Even routine work has been hindered, although the Consular Directorate’s virtual counter has remained open at all times and the entire consular network has maintained its services. In these challenging times, a number of Swiss representations have been looking at new ways to stay in touch with and keep track of Swiss on the ground while offering them specific services. Here are three reports from Bangkok, San José and Ottawa that illustrate the agility of Switzerland’s consular network and of the FDFA employees in fulfilling their mission regardless of the circumstances. Time will tell whether these experiences enhance the consular network’s regular work in the long run. (FDFA) Bangkok / Thailand Digital “community meetings” during the pandemic As we know, necessity is themother of inven- tion. When the Covid-19 pandemic came to a head in Thailand and neighbouring coun- tries inMarch 2020, the Swiss embassy in the capital Bangkok decided to improve its digi- tal reach. In less than four weeks, Ambassa- dor Helene Budliger Artieda sent a total of 18 video messages in three different languages to local Swiss expatriate communities to in- form them of the latest developments and advice. This inspired the idea of creating a regu- lar virtual “community meeting”. #AskTh- eEmbassy launched on 22 June 2020 – the first of 16 live Facebook events for the Swiss com- munities in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Ma- laysia andMyanmar (the accumulative Swiss expatriate population of these four countries is around 13,000). Community meetings at local level have a long tradition in Swiss democracy. The re- sponse fromthe Swiss expatriate community was suitably positive. Given the many ques- tions that were asked, we have decided to build on this new form of communication. San José / Costa Rica Travelling to remote regions to gain a better understanding of requirements The Regional Consular Centre (RCC) in the Costa Rican capital of San José, which is re- sponsible for some 6,000 Swiss citizens in six Central American countries, hosted a virtual meeting during the pandemic to introduce itself and respond to people’s questions. Under the “Six countries, one region” tag line, the RCC’s next event will take the form of a hybrid meeting: six colleagues who specialise in consular services at our six representations inCentral Americawill meet in person in Costa Rica, from where they will conduct a video call with our For example, we have alreadywelcomed two special guests to talk with us on air. Firstly, the regional director of Lufthansa Group cov- ered everything people wanted to know about travelling during the pandemic. Then in February 2021, the Thai health minister Anutin Charnvirakul paid us the honour of a visit to answer questions in person about vac- cinations for foreigners in Thailand. Further video surprises await. SWISS EMBASSY IN BANGKOK, THAI L AND In an improvised studio – Ambassador Helene Budliger Artieda with Pierre Hagmann (deputy head of mission, left) and Consul General Pierre Chabloz (right) Photo provided Our mobile passport office in Panama – travel restric- tions make this a very popular service Photo provided