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RACISM

Racism: Young people in Switzerland feel increasingly discriminated against

Young people in Switzerland are far more likely to feel discriminated against than five years ago, a new government report reveals.

Published: 3 September 2019 09:13 CEST
Racism: Young people in Switzerland feel increasingly discriminated against
A 2016 referendum campaign poster by the right-wing Swiss People's Party calling for foreign criminals to be expelled from Switzerland. File photo: AFP

A total of 38 percent of people aged 15–24 in Switzerland said they felt they had been the victim of discrimination, up from 28 percent earlier, according to the latest report on racial discrimination in Switzerland published by the Service for Combating Racism (SCRA).

The overall figure for all age groups is 28 percent.

READ ALSO: Racism in Switzerland – 'People of colour are automatically perceived as different'

The SCRA report (a short version is available here in English) looks at latest research on racism in Switzerland and the state of play in efforts to combat the problem.

The study's authors note that while more research is needed to learn whether young people are actually experiencing more racism, there is an increased awareness of racial discrimination among people in this age group.

The comprehensive report also highlights that racism is especially likely to occur when people are looking for work or during working life.

In addition, the SCRA stressed that new strategies must be developed to fight online hate speech.

Many of the findings from in the report published on Monday stem from the diversity and coexistence in Switzerland survey.

Th 2018 edition of that poll found that 59 percent of respondents believe racism is a serious problem in Switzerland while 31 percent of people said not enough was being done to deal with the issue.

One third of poll respondents said they felt uncomfortable around people who were different. A total of 11 percent of people said they had negative attitudes towards black people and Muslims and nine percent said they had these negative attitudes towards Jewish people.

READ ALSO: 'No Asians' – Zurich's ETH Uni hit by racist graffiti

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RACISM

Why are racist incidents on the rise in Switzerland?

Switzerland’s Federal Commission against Racism (EKR) announced this week that the number incidents of racism reported to it rose by almost a quarter in 2023.

Published: 29 April 2024 12:22 CEST
Why are racist incidents on the rise in Switzerland?

In a new report published on Sunday, the EKR revealed that 876 incidents of racism had been reported to the body. In comparison, 708 incidents were reported to the EKR in 2022. 

That reflects a rise of 24 percent in the number of reported incidents.

The current conflict in the Middle East was highlighted explicitly as fuelling the rise in incidences of racism.

Some 69 reports related to anti-Arab racism, while anti-Muslim xenophobia was cited in 62 reports. There were also 46 incidents of anti-semitic abuse recorded last year

Read More: Switzerland acknowledges ‘systemic racism’ in the country

Another section of the report significantly identified right-wing populist political campaigns as a significant motivator of racist hate, promoted through flyers with xenophobic slogans or visual tropes. 

Discrimination based on nationality or ethnicity constituted the largest share of reports at 387 reports, followed by anti-black racism with 327 documented incidents.

Additionally, 155 reports related to a person’s legal right to remain in Switzerland, while 137 reported discrimination based on gender. 

Read More: Are foreigners in Switzerland likely to experience some form of racism?

The EKR report also identified where these racist incidents were most likely to occur: Educational institutions, such as schools and universities, were the most frequent locations for incidents at 181 reports, followed by the workplace at 124 incidents and open public spaces at 113. 

With almost two hundred of the 876 reported incidents taking place at schools and universities, Ursula Schneider-Schüttel, President of the EKR, had words of warning: 

“One finding from the report in particular deserves our attention: reports of racial discrimination at school are at the forefront this year. This is worrying.

“School should be where children and young people are protected from discrimination.

“We must therefore ask ourselves what responsibility educational institutions have in ensuring a non-discriminatory learning environment and what it takes to achieve this responsibility can be met.” 

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