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Swiss anti-racism laws found lacking

Switzerland’s anti-racism laws are inadequate and need to be improved, the Federal Commission against Racism said in a report presented on Tuesday.

Private and administrative law do not explicitly ban discrimination and there are inefficiencies in the application of laws due to long court proceedings, high costs of legal action and lack of clarity about the issue, the body said.

The commission said people are being discriminated against every day because of their skin colour or ethnic origin when looking for jobs or homes.

It recommended modelling racism discrimination laws on existing Swiss laws that protect the equality of women and the disabled.

In particular laws need more clarification and a greater awareness of the problem should be raised. A specific law against racism or one covering all discrimination could be the answer, the commission said.

swissinfo.ch and agencies

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