Swiss anti-radicalisation centre contacted almost every week
An extremism prevention initiative in Switzerland has been kept busy with calls from the public, who are mostly reporting cases of suspected radicalisation.
Between April 2021 and December 2023, the centre for extremism and violence prevention in Winterthur dealt with a total of 111 enquiries. That’s an average of between three and four per month. The contact centre, which was developed for Winterthur, attracts attention far beyond the city.
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The majority of those seeking advice came from the city, as can be seen in the activity report published on Tuesday. According to the report, 77 Winterthur residents contacted the centre for advice by phone, email or in person.
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However, 24 people from canton Zurich and ten others from outside the canton also contacted the centre. Its managers attribute this in part to “the high profile of the contact centre”, as they write in a press release.
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Most enquiries in the reporting period from April 2021 to December 2023 came from professionals at schools, or in youth and social work. In 96 of the 111 cases, the focus was on the behaviour of individuals that could potentially indicate radicalisation.
The centre for extremism and violence prevention in Winterthur was set up in 2016 as one of the first specialist centres on this topic in Switzerland. It serves as an easily accessible contact for questions relating to violence prevention, radicalisation, and extremism. It also organises a prevention forum for associations and shares its knowledge in workshops and presentations.
Adapted from German by DeepL/dkk/ma
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