Thursday, September 13, 2007

Those Racist Swiss, Again

Those Swiss racists are at it again, according to the BBC:

Swiss citizenship system ‘racist’

An official report into the process of naturalisation in Switzerland says the current system is discriminatory and in many respects racist.

The report, from Switzerland’s Federal Commission on Racial Discrimination, recommends far-reaching changes.

It criticises the practice of allowing members of a community to vote on an individual’s citizenship application.

Muslims and people from the Balkans and Africa are the most likely to be rejected, the report points out.

Switzerland has Europe’s toughest naturalisation laws. Foreigners must live for 12 years in a Swiss community before they can apply, and being born in Switzerland brings no right to citizenship.

Under the current system, foreigners apply through their local town or village.

They appear before a citizenship committee and answer questions about their desire to be Swiss. After that, they must often be approved by the entire voting community, in a secret ballot, or a show of hands. This practice, the report says, is particularly likely to be distorted by racial discrimination.
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It cites the case of a disabled man originally from Kosovo. Although fulfilling all the legal criteria, his application for citizenship was rejected by his community on the grounds that his disability made him a burden on taxpayers, and that he was Muslim.

The report recommends that decisions on citizenship should be decided by an elected executive and not by the community as a whole. But such a move is likely to encounter stiff opposition.

I’m an advocate of re-establishing the power of local political structures. Tyranny becomes more and more likely the further removed a government is from the people it ostensibly serves. The most notable contemporary examples of such structures are the United States and the European Union, but all modern nation-states share the same tendency towards swollen centralized bureaucratic oppression.

So the “racism” of the Swiss seems to me an eminently sensible plan for reawakening local sovereignty:

It criticises the practice of allowing members of a community to vote on an individual’s citizenship application.

Yes, OK… and what’s the problem with this? Is there something wrong with letting the people most intimately affected by immigrant foreigners decide whether to allow them in their midst? Or do the bureaucrats in Bern know better?

Muslims and people from the Balkans and Africa are the most likely to be rejected, the report points out.

Once again, common sense. These are the ones who or most likely to commit rape and other violent crimes, to beat their wives, to murder their daughters for causing the family “dishonor”, and — most importantly — they are the ones who are most likely to plan and execute acts of terrorism. An immigrant from Finland or Portugal is, statistically speaking, a much better risk for citizenship.

Foreigners must live for 12 years in a Swiss community before they can apply, and being born in Switzerland brings no right to citizenship.

Oh, if only we could adopt the same rules in the United States of America!

Under the current system, foreigners apply through their local town or village.

No wonder the Multiculturalists hate this system; it virtually guarantees the persistence of the monoculture.

They appear before a citizenship committee and answer questions about their desire to be Swiss. After that, they must often be approved by the entire voting community, in a secret ballot, or a show of hands.

And I say: Let’s do it like the Swiss way!


Thanks, Alain! Zurich has now become Bern.

Hat tip: HTP.

14 comments:

kepiblanc said...

Switzerland is the only remaining democracy in Europe. It is outside the EU, and - I think - the UN, neutral and well armed. Every male is obliged to serve and keeps his sidearm at home.

In order to have a referendum on something you'll only need 100,000 signatures. Such a referendum is now under way concerning the expulsion of whole, criminal families. Like all other European countries Switzerland has a rising problem with violent crime - guess by who.

Alain Jean-Mairet said...

Our bureaucrats are in Bern (the capital), not in Zurich.

Anonymous said...

I've considered emigrating to Switzerland more than once. Only problem is that I don't want to spend the rest of my days speaking German - or French, for that matter.

Unknown said...

Switzerland is in the United Nations, actually. As far as I know the only country of any significance outside the UN is Taiwan.

Alex said...

Siitzerland joined the UN in 2002. And even then there were alot of people, citizens, against it. And so far Vatican, and Taiwan are outside UN. Taiwan has no choice of joining the UN and Vatican...what would you expect.

As for the immigration Law, is perfect fine with MOST citizens in CH. Let Direct Democracy thrive in the last place on this world.

and US constitution, was after the Swiss one!

As for Mikkel,, stay in one of your nordic countries then, filling up with criminal muslims. Ad fyi in CH English is widely spoken, understoon lately..why worry?, then THere is Rumantsh:-)

Gruezi

Don Miguel said...

"As for the immigration Law, is perfect fine with MOST citizens in CH."

Gruezi, Alex. Just as true when I lived there in the 1980's. I was surprised that CH joined the UN because of all of the previous referendums for it were voted down.

Unknown said...

To Don Miguel

And after joined did they made any referendum to get out?
These crap politicians are the same everywhere. Once they made it finis referendum.

Zerosumgame said...

Frankly, the Swiss are not a people for which this Jewish American (and I think many non-Jewish Americans) have any sympathy. They sat out the war to exterminate the Nazis. It's no secret most Swiss had pro-Nazi sympathies. They profited immensely from the extermination of the Jews, they still ban kosher meat - a ban they imposed 100+ years ago to keep Jews out (Tell me, Kepiblanc, what type of democracy forbids basic religious practices for an established relgion like Judaism?), and are virulently anti-Semitic and anti-Israel even by the low standards of tolerance of today's Europe.

Of course, the lefties criticising them are just as bad. So, I guess, there are no good guys in this argument.

Don Miguel said...

Geraldo, I don't know but I doubt it. They joined after I left and only a few years ago. I don't disagree about "crap politicians," but I believe it was a majority of the Swiss people that voted for it.

Francis W. Porretto said...

I was surprised to learn that native birth does not confer Swiss citizenship. However, I can't fault the Swiss system; it appears to lean toward proper integration and the inclusion solely of persons who've already made a prodigious effort in that direction.

If memory serves, service in the Swiss Army is considered equivalent to that 12-year residence requirement, though I could be wrong about that.

As for the handicapped fellow who was denied citizenship: why should his neighbors place themselves in a position to become his involuntary caregivers?

Anonymous said...

I really wonder what's so bad with the Swiss system. Mind you, I am European, in fact, I'm in the country that was once kicked out of Switzerland. Yes, you guessed right, Austria. And to be frank, I wouldn't mind if some of the Swiss ways would be applied here, too.

I also remember that the Swiss used to have a very strict examination of one's ability to speak their language. Great idea and that should definitely be used in Austria as well (however, instead we have a weird test about what people know of Austrian history, etc, with questions that your average Austrian can't answer either).

I remember a case from several years ago. A Turkish woman, who had been living in Graz for several years, was in a hospital for surgery. However, nurses and doctors confused her with another Turkish woman and did the wrong surgery. Now, why did it happen? Well, the problem was, while she had been living in Austria for ages, she was not able to communicate in German. Great, hu?

Then again, this whole talk about "multi-cultural" is outright annoying by now. Let me tell you one thing, I spend about 6 weeks per year in Japan, I have to adapt to the culture and society when I'm there. Otherwise people treat me like a typical "gai-jin" (oh wait, that is a "racist" word nowadays) and think I'm an idiot. So, if I have to adapt in Japan (or any other country I go to), why don't those immigrants adapt to our culture and society?

Don Miguel said...

"I was surprised to learn that native birth does not confer Swiss citizenship."

Francis, I believe that's the exception (e.g. the U.S.), not the rule. My kids were born in Germany and Switzerland and neither was given or has any citizenship rights, and never would have unless they stayed and grew up there and naturalized. In fact a friend of mine’s daughter (born in Germany, moved to Spain at age 8) had no legal citizenship as a minor because she was born to parents from two different countries and did not meet the requirements of either country for automatic citizenship by birth.

"I also remember that the Swiss used to have a very strict examination of one's ability to speak their language."

Takekaze, that was true when I lived there and I can't see why the Swiss would change it. Of course I assume it's a "multiple choice" examination of one of the four (or at least three principal) languages.

openplaza said...

@zero

Maybe you shoud inform yourself a bit, befor you make things up.

zero:they still ban kosher meat - a ban they imposed 100+ years ago to keep Jews out

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bans_on_ritual_slaughter
Bans on cruel inhuman ritual slaughter have been proposed or enacted in a number of European countries, from the early 1900s onward, resulting in the prohibition or limiting of traditional shechita (Jewish) and dhabiĥa (Islamic) religious customs.


Zero:They sat out the war to exterminate the Nazis. It's no secret most Swiss had pro-Nazi sympathies. They profited immensely from the extermination of the Jews.

The Swiss victory in a war against the Swabian League in 1499 amounted to de facto independence from the Holy Roman Empire. And the swiss defeat at the battle of Marignano in 1515 marked the beginning it's netrality, meaning it didnt enter any conflicts anymore. This was interrupted with Napoleons intervention into Switzerland at the end of the 18th century. The Congress of Vienna of 1815 fully re-established Swiss independence and the European powers agreed to permanently recognise Swiss neutrality.

During World War II, detailed invasion plans were drawn up by the Germans,[1] but Switzerland was never attacked. Switzerland was able to remain independent through a combination of military deterrence, economic concessions to Germany, and good fortune as larger events during the war delayed an invasion. Attempts by Switzerland's small Nazi party to cause an Anschluss with Germany failed miserably, largely due to Switzerland's multicultural heritage, strong sense of national identity, and long tradition of direct democracy and civil liberties. The Swiss press vigorously criticized the Third Reich, often infuriating its leadership.
Over the course of the war, Switzerland interned 300,000 refugees. 104,000 of these were foreign troops held according to the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers outlined in the Hague Conventions. 60,000 of the refugees were civilians escaping persecution by the Nazis. Of these, 26,000 to 27,000 were Jews.


zero[They] are virulently anti-Semitic and anti-Israel even by the low standards of tolerance of today's Europe.
I dont know where you got that from. So i cant say anything to that

But i dont expect you to be objective and to get the facts straight. You seem to have personal problems with Switzerland.

Don Miguel said...

Openplaza, let me just add one thing to your numbers: Switzerland allowed more refugees than the U.S. did based on percentage of the population. And there’s certainly no ban on buying kosher meat there because I’ve done it.