Sharp rise in Swiss racism incidents in 2024

Sharp rise in racism incidents in 2024 Keystone-SDA

Switzerland saw a 20% rise in reported racist incidents in 2024, according to the Federal Commission against Racism (FCR).

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

Most incidents occurred at school, in the workplace and in public spaces. Xenophobia and racism against black people were reported most frequently.

The increase in reports to an advice network for victims of racism has been evident for years, the FCR, the organisation Humanrightswatch and the advice network announced on Sunday.

Last year, there were 1,211 documented cases, 335 or almost 40% more than in 2023.

According to the data, the sharp increase is due to the polarisation of public opinion and the geopolitical situation. On the other hand, counselling centres have also become better known and victims are seeking help more quickly.

Racism in schools

Broken down by area of life, the network received the most reports (19%) from the education sector, particularly from compulsory schools. One mother reported her son being ostracised in class, Hitler salutes and right-wing extremist symbols.

Teachers and school social workers responded with the help of the counselling centre. According to the press release, educational work is needed in schools and teachers should undergo further training.

At 35%, the most frequently cited motives for discrimination were xenophobia and hostility towards foreigners (426 cases). Racism against black people accounted for 30% or 368 reports.

Xenophobia occurred most frequently in the workplace, while anti-black racism was most common in compulsory schools.

Compared to the previous year, anti-Islamic racism grew the most, accounting for 17% of the total and 209 cases. Anti-Semitism remained consistently high at 66 cases.

Social danger

Experiencing racism causes a great deal of suffering for those affected and, in the worst cases, can have serious health consequences, as the counselling network, the ECR and Humanrightswatch reported.

It leads to a loss of trust in institutions and in other people. Racism is therefore a threat to social cohesion and must be recognised and combated as such, the organisations stated.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

How we work

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate them into English. A journalist then briefly reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

Did you find this explanation helpful? Please fill out the short survey below to help us understand your needs.