Yenish travellers occupy land outside Geneva illegally

Some of the Yenish caravans in the Francois-Auguste Chatrier Park on Monday © Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi

A group of Yenish travellers has been occupying a municipal site in Thônex, canton Geneva, without permission since Sunday. The local authorities say they will file criminal charges.

The situation, revealed by Le Temps newspaperExternal link on Monday, reflects the disarray felt by Swiss travellers at the lack of suitable sites for nomadic living.

“We have nothing in Geneva, even though it’s one of the richest cantons in Switzerland and a city that bills itself as the capital of human rights,” Stève Gerzner, the community’s representative, told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-ATS.

Around 20 families have taken up residence in a park in Thônex, near the French border. The 20-30 caravans are parked practically under the windows of the town hall. The Yenish say they are prepared to stay as long as it takes to jolt the authorities into action. They hope to obtain more transit sites equipped with access to water and electricity.

+ Council of Europe calls on Switzerland to set up more transit sites

“It’s in the law,” Gerzner said. The Yenish are recognised as a minority and Switzerland must make it easier for them to practise their nomadic cultural life, he said, adding that the Yenish had made numerous requests to the local authorities for plots but had been repeatedly turned down.

“We’re bounced from one department to another, told that the land is being used for events,” Gerzner said. “In reality, they don’t want us”. He pointed out that the Yenish don’t ask to stay in one place for months on end – they move every two to three weeks.

Once they have settled, they make a living doing all sorts of jobs, from building to recycling. According to Gerzner, their arrival costs nothing. “We pay for the electricity and water and cover our costs,” he said. They also leave the sites clean, he added, explaining that at Thônex they have installed a skip for their rubbish and lavatories.

Criminal complaint

The Geneva municipality has decided to take an uncompromising stance. In a press release, mayor Pascal Uehlinger said it would be filing a criminal complaint “for trespassing, damage to property and theft of energy (water and electricity)”.

He hopes that “the support provided by the cantonal authorities will enable this situation to be normalised as soon as possible, thereby restoring access to this festive summer square for the residents of the town of Thônex”.

Around 35,000 Yenish live in Switzerland. Some adopt a nomadic lifestyle between March and October; most settle down during the winter. “We are Swiss citizens,” Gerzner says.

The Yenish say they suffer from the bad reputation given to other traveller communities.

A difficult past, with children torn from their families, has taught the Yenish to be discreet. “We hid so much that people ended up forgetting about us,” Gerzner said. Today, the community has decided to come out into the open and make itself better known. “The survival of our culture depends on it.”