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Racism: Brazilian living in Zurich told to ‘go back to Africa’

A Brazilian woman has lodged a formal complaint with police after alleging she was racially abused in a supermarket in Zurich.

Published: 22 August 2018 09:38 CEST

Racism: Brazilian living in Zurich told to 'go back to Africa’

File photo: Depositphotos

The woman had gone to the shop to buy mangoes, she explained to Swiss news portal 20 Minuten.

However, when Nadimeire S. touched a piece of fruit to see if it was ripe, a female customer told her not to handle the mango “like an animal”.

Read also: 'People of colour are automatically perceived as foreigners in Switzerland'

The Brazilian, who came to Switzerland two years ago to live with her partner, explained to the other customer that she intended to buy the fruit and was simply checking to see it was ripe.

She was then told to “go back to Africa”.

Nadimeire S. subsequently went to the police, lodging a formal complain against the woman who had abused her. Police confirm they are investigating the case.

“I really don’t want to complain and I know that there are people like that, but this week was particularly bad,” said the 31-year-old of the incident, explaining she has repeatedly been the target of racism or discrimination in Switzerland because of the colour of her skin.

“I want to integrate here as much as possible; I have already done two courses and work as an English teacher,” said the Brazilian, who was described as speaking good German.

Not an isolated incident

The case of Nadimeire S. is not an isolated one.

A report published in April by the Federal Commission against Racism (FCR) and Swiss human rights portal humanrights.ch shows the number of racist incidents reported last year in Switzerland was a record high 301.

Racism against black people accounted for 95 of those cases, according to the study examining racist incidents reported to a network of 27 bureaus assisting victims of racism across Switzerland.

Commenting on the high figure, report co-author David Mühlemann said the 2017 rise could possibly be due to greater awareness among people affected by racism or better access to advice bureaus.

But Mühlemann also warned the figure “could also be an indication of an actual increase in incidents.” He said far-right political parties across Europe had made extreme positions more socially acceptable, adding “Many people no longer feel bound to social conventions and are openly racist.”

Read also: Zurich police found not guilty in racial profiling case

Swiss parliament wants ban on extremist symbols

The National Council lower house of parliament voted by 133 to 38 in favour of banning the public use of racist, violence-promoting and extremist symbols, such as Nazi symbols.

Switzerland, which stayed neutral during World War II, has come under pressure to fall in line with a number of other European countries in banning Nazi symbols.

Full bans are in place in Germany, Poland and several other eastern European nations.

The Swiss parliament as a whole is now in favour, after the Council of States upper house voted for such a ban in December.

The plans would also cover gestures, words, salutes or flags.

The National Council also voted by 132 to 40 for the measures to be introduced in stages — a move the government supports.

A ban on easily identifiable Nazi symbols could be implemented quickly, while other racist and extremist symbols could be identified and banned further down the line.

“We don’t want a swastika or a Hitler salute in our country, ever!” said Green lawmaker Raphael Mahaim.

“Today, in Switzerland, it is possible, it is even permitted, to display a flag with a swastika on your balcony. It is possible to put a flag bearing the image of the SS on the windshield of your car. It is possible to give the Hitler salute in public spaces.

“This situation is intolerable.”

Debate on other symbols

Justice minister Beat Jans said the government, called the Federal Council, had hitherto relied on prevention as the main pillar against racism, but now thinks legal measures are needed.

“Anti-Semitic incidents, particularly those involving the use of Nazi symbols, have increased sharply in recent times,” he said.

“Against this background, the Federal Council decided last week that it is positive about the gradual implementation of the motion.”

He said the government wanted to introduce a special law which would mean fines could therefore be imposed.

As for banning Nazi symbols first, Mahaim accepted that debates on other symbols “will be much more difficult”.

“For example, what about the Z symbol of Putin’s army of aggression? What about the Ku Klux Klan symbol? What about the hammer and sickle symbol?” he said.

The no votes and abstentions all came from the hard-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which is the largest faction in the lower chamber.

SVP lawmaker Barbara Steinemann said Switzerland had successfully been able to keep extremism down to “a base of a few meaningless weirdos”.

She said a ban on symbols would not prevent the “rampant” anti-Semitic attitudes in universities and “intellectual milieus”.

Steinemann said Nazi symbolism had risen only since the Gaza war erupted in October, and “even if you don’t like to hear it, this is the influence of immigration from non-European cultures.

“We are literally engaging in symbolic politics, and we shouldn’t be doing that,” the Zurich lawmaker said.

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