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RACISM

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

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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