• جائیں اس یوزر کےRoger B's پروفائل پر

    @sonia

    پوسٹڈ بايئ  Roger B انرر سوئٹرزلینڈ فورم 

    Well, what can I say other than I'm deeply sorry for your experience. Yes, there is racism and bigotry in Switzerland. There are people who judge others by the colour of their skin rather than the content of their character. Just keep on trying, don't be put off. I am convinced that there are fellow Swiss who are as open minded as possible and not at all as block headed as it might sometimes appear.

    However, even if I understand your frustration, I think one has to consider the anxiety many Swiss feel about immigration topics. I've shared my point of view regarding this topic several times here with an aim to bring in the perspective of the "other side". To be blunt, I'd consider myself to be an outright sceptic when it comes to immigration.

    The story you've just shared with us, that a landlord expressed relief that he could rent his flat out to a Swiss is not surprising to me at all. After all, we had a net-immigration of 360'000 people from 2005 - 2009 (official statistics), extending that to the year 2000 would reveal a total net-immigration of 575'000 people from 2000 - 2009. And that has to be put in relation to a population of roughly 5.5 to 6 million Swiss citizens. In other words, from 2005 - 2009 a complete city of St.Gallen has immigrated into Switzerland and that makes one really wonder whether such levels are sane & sustainable. To put the pedal to the metal, consider that most of this immigration did not just neatly spread itself over all of Switzerland. Most of this immigration happened to urban centers like Zurich, Basel & Geneva (understandably so, who wants to live in the remotest possible valley in central Switzerland), further adding pressure on already strained public infrustructure, rental fee levels and naturally heightening tensions between native & foreign born population.

    Anectodal evidence to this state of "hyper-tension" is the housing (rental) market. Ever seen what happens when a landlord is making a public exhibition (Wohnungsbesichtigung) for an appartment in the City of Zurich? You can bet on queue's going from your doorstep on the 3rd floor, down the staircase to the appartment builduing's entrance and possibly even beyond (dozens over dozens of applicants). And yes, you can bet on a significantly large proportion of applicants being immigrants from neighbouring countries. Naturally, that is what causes a whole lot of anxiety, second thoughts and feelings that the pace is just not sustainable. To be very frank, in situations like these, I can understand a certain sense of nativism on the landlord's part. For me, it's quite clear that a 300'000+ immigration over 4 years ain't sustainable nor sane.

    My personal take on it is the following: This is Switzerland. We should be open to the world, flexible in granting visa's and "green card's" when there's a need for it. We should be tolerant and cherish the liberties a liberal democracy bestows on its people. However, we shouldn't allow "no-strings-attached, no control" immigration to take place (sth we currently have with the EU). Last but not least, we should not forget that we are Swiss, we're not a confederacy of cosmopolitan internationalists. We should not forget that as a society, we should aspire to do things in a sustainable, long term thinking way that will ensure that our children have a better future in front of them.

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