Defying Switzerland's new racist reputation

[pampango]

Source: Global Post

The canton of Neuchatel actively encourages the integration and active participation of foreigners.

Switzerland made headlines last month after a referendum banned the building of minarets. While the vote gained Switzerland a reputation for xenophobia, the canton of Neuchatel — one of 24 county-size states — has some of the most progressive policies towards foreigners in Europe.

Neuchatel has long been a pioneering region and was one of Switzerland’s four cantons to vote against the banning of minarets. Situated near the French border in a landscape of lakes, mountains and valleys, it has a population of about 170,000, of whom 25 percent are foreigners. Portuguese, Italians and Spaniards head a list of some 150 foreign nationalities. The canton’s economy centers on the watch industry and unemployment remains relatively low.

As Congo-born local councilor Raoul Lembwadio said: “People may be racist but the institutions are not.” And that may be a key to ensuring that different cultures live peacefully, side-by-side. Moroccan lawyer Amina Benkais explained: “Unlike some of my friends, I always say that I am a practicing Muslim. I see myself as a positive image of a successful foreign woman with no conflicting loyalties.” Although she has dual Moroccan and French nationality, Benkais was elected to the local Socialist party. As far as she is concerned, the public referendum on minarets was a false debate orchestrated by the right. “We Muslims don’t even think minarets are important,” she said.

Foreigners have voted in Neuchatel elections since 1849, and in 2007 a law was passed that allowed them to stand for election at communal (local) level after five years’ residency. “We were startled when we covered the riots in the French suburbs a few years back,” said Chantal Tauxe, deputy editor of the weekly L’Hebdo, “to discover that despite our stingy naturalization laws, we Swiss treat our foreigners much better than the French, even though it’s easy to get French nationality.”

Read more: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/europe/091211/switzerland-diversity

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Good that one canton in Switzerland is rebelling against the anti-minaret referendum. I was surprised that they let foreign residents vote and even run for office after 5 years of residence. Sounds like the local Socialist party is the most tolerant in terms of integrating foreigners into political life there-not surprising and perhaps one of the reasons that the right wing was behind the anti-minaret movement in the first place.

[pinto]

1. Interesting article. Thanks for the post. I loved this proactive approach -

“Like the whole of Europe, Switzerland is a land of immigration, and this is going to be increasingly true,” said Pascal Mahon, a constitutional law professor at the University of Neuchatel. Mahon helped produce Neuchatel’s Citizenship Charter, which spells out the rules of Swiss democracy and is given to every new arrival to the canton.

[BlueMTexpat]

2. The three westernmost cantons, Geneva, Vaud and Neuchatel,

ALL had majorities that voted against the ban.

[provis99]

3. anyone notice the French cantons are the tolerant ones?

I wonder if racism is stronger in the German cantons?

[BlueMTexpat]

4. Having resided in "La Suisse romande" (French-speaking Switzerland) for the past 15 years,

I have often wondered about that, especially because during the Nazi Reich, it seems that the westernmost cantons were slightly easier to get into for refugees fleeing from persecution. That situation could also be attributed in part to the fact that the French under the Occupation, even those who collaborated with the Nazis, were not wholly supportive of the Nazi treatment of Jews, particularly of those who were French nationals. Those who were in the Free Zone (Vichy) were also quite likely to help smuggle refugees of all kinds and nationalities into Switzerland. Also during the Vichy years, Italian border guards near Lake Geneva were less zealous about turning back and capturing refugees, occasionally even deliberately looking the other way, than were the German guards posted near the German-speaking cantons.
There is also the fact that Geneva has been generally known as an area of religious tolerance for centuries, was selected as the site of the League of Nations and is currently the European headquarters of the UN, where the great majority of the humanitarian aid missions are based and thus has a large international community.
But it's not quite as simple as that. The fact is that of the four minarets that already exist in Switzerland, only one is in la Suisse romande. That one is in Geneva. The others are in German-speaking cantons. Also, one tiny German-speaking area (Basel-City) which has a large Muslim population and half a cantonal vote, also voted against the ban.

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Wiki actually has an excellent comprehensive write-up about the minaret ban, with good references. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minaret_controversy_in_Switzerland