Summary of racism, xenophobia, antisemitism (discrimination) in Switzerland. Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Swissinfo, RTS, , BBC News, VICE

1. Racism in Switzerland • Swiss People’s Party (SVP) also
known as “UCD” currently
holds the largest number of
votes among the political
parties (30-35%) in Switzerland.
• The ideologies promoted by the
SVP include anti-immigration,
racism, xenophobia, and
antisemitism.
• SVP advertisement (left). These
advertisements have been
fined by European courts
(outside of Switzerland) for its
racist message. However, few
measures within Switzerland
haven taken place.

2. • Antisemitism is growing issue in
Switzerland. In 2016, 5,000 neo-Nazis
gathered in St. Gallen.
• When police were asked why they did
not make any arrests, the police claimed
that they could not verify whether
everyone was a neo-Nazi.
• In 2021, the growing antisemitic
attitudes within the Swiss military was
covered by the news.

3. While the country is known for having
multiple official languages and
maintaining a ‘neutral’ stance,
Switzerland’s past is mired in controversy
as continual investigation into Swiss
banks have revealed illegal financial
transactions and protections for
international criminal activity.

4. • Though reporting is often
minimal, the New York Times,
Washington Post, Huffington
Post, BBC News, and VICE have
attempted to cover these
instances of racism, xenophobia,
and antisemitism as they arise...

5. • The Swiss government
recently spent $450,000
creating a television show to
deter migrants from Nigeria
from immigrating to
Switzerland.

6. • In some cantons (states), locals get to vote on
whether an immigrant can obtain citizenship.
• Wearing ‘workout clothing’ is deemed to be a
reason to be denied citizenship.
• Having a disability and walking with a limp barred
one man from obtaining citizenship.
• The path to citizenship in these cantons are
known to be arbitrary and discriminatory based
on ethnic origin, religious beliefs, and skin color.

7. • During a recent FIFA match, players of
Kosovo origin representing the Swiss
team were deemed “not Swiss enough”
by many in Switzerland who criticized the
players.

8. • Racism endured by minority Swiss athletes is
a regular part of major sporting events.
• Crowds often chant ‘monkey’ noises when a
black player is on the field.
• These athletes have come to accept racism as
part of their ‘everyday life’ in Switzerland.

9. • Despite being one the world’s richest
people, billionaire Oprah was not exempt
from being discriminated against at a luxury
store in Zurich, Switzerland.
• Despite widespread news coverage, the
store owner refused to apologize.

10. • Individual stories from of racism can
be found through different social media
platforms; instances where black
people have been:
• Spit on during a train ride.
• Arrested for alleged theft though
no goods are found after a person
has been stripped naked.
• Employees working for the United
Nations being called a “nigger” by
people in Geneva.

11. • Some of these individuals have stated
that even though they are not refugees, the
negative sentiment towards refugees
invites this type of mistreatment.
• Mistreatment against refugees is
commonly accepted due to the belief that
they use up the resources of the Swiss.

12. • An incident of police brutality against a black
Swiss man named Mike Ben Peter recently
occurred in Switzerland.
• The incident was hauntingly similar to the
George Floyd incident -- involving excessive
police force; restraint to the ground; an inability
to breath -- leading to death.
• Despite these similarities, greater
accountability and changes have not occurred in
Switzerland.

13. • The anti-Muslim sentiment is pervasive in
Switzerland in advertisements regularly put up
at every major train station.
• It appears that the local Swiss people accept
these advertisements as part of the local
landscape, as most have not engaged in
political activism against their discriminatory
message.
• The largest public transit system – the Swiss
train – SBB – continues to accept money to
advertise the SVP’s discriminatory message,
despite the European courts fining the political
party’s advertisements for their hateful
message.

14. • In addition to black Swiss
people and Muslims, people
from Eastern Europe are
often portrayed as violent;
with SVP advertisements
stating, “Kosovars slice up
Swiss.”

15. • Due to the privacy laws, data is difficult
to access, though Swissinfo.ch have done
their best to cover these instances with
limited data.
• While racial bias training is absent from
most Swiss institutions, some news
organizations like RTS and the Local CH have
done their best to cover instances of
discrimination within the Swiss culture and
land.

16. • Racism and xenophobia are attitudes that exist in
many countries but what is striking in Switzerland is
the public’s acceptance of these attitudes without
significant activism to move towards change.
• Accountability measures are not in place, such as
an aggressive equal employment opportunity
office to address instances of racism in hiring
practices and workplace incidents.
• Data gathering is minimal due to privacy
measures within Switzerland.
• Lawsuits are also difficult since unlike in the U.S.
retribution from them are minimal in sum.
• Of the minimal activism that occurs, efforts have
proved powerless against the political
institutions.
• Swiss people of minority backgrounds are merely
forced to believe that ‘regular discrimination’ is
part of their reality.
In conclusion:

17. The unfortunate reality is that within Switzerland there is
hostility even between different areas (in addition to
racism, xenophobia, and antisemitism)…
Hostility between:
• German-speaking Swiss against the French-speaking
Swiss.
• Zurich/city folks against rural German-speaking folks.
• Geneva/city folks against rural French-speaking folks.
• Zurich-residing, German-speaking Swiss against Germans
traveling across the border to Zurich for their jobs.
• Geneva-residing Swiss against French people traveling
across the border for jobs in Geneva.
• Swiss against people coming from Italy to take their jobs.
• Against Portuguese people taking their jobs.
• Against Eastern European people.
• (This does not cover the sentiment of the regions of
Italian-speaking Swiss and Romansh-speaking Swiss.)

18. Dolomites, Italy
France: Chamonix, Mont
Blanc (though one may
need to fly into Geneva to
get there)
Canada
Until there is greater change and accountability, support
for the tourism industry in Switzerland should be
avoided.
Widespread structures for reporting and addressing
these instances are needed.
Here are some vacation alternatives to Switzerland with
similar landscape:
Glacier National Park
Montana
South America (Chile)
Torres del Paine

19. Some background on me:
I’m an American who lived in Switzerland and has extended family in Switzerland (both on
the French-speaking and German-speaking side).