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Racism: Brazilian living in Zurich told to 'go back to Africa’

George Mills
George Mills - [email protected]
Racism: Brazilian living in Zurich told to 'go back to Africa’
File photo: Depositphotos"

A Brazilian woman has lodged a formal complaint with police after alleging she was racially abused in a supermarket in Zurich.

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The woman had gone to the shop to buy mangoes, she explained to Swiss news portal 20 Minuten.

However, when Nadimeire S. touched a piece of fruit to see if it was ripe, a female customer told her not to handle the mango “like an animal”.

Read also: 'People of colour are automatically perceived as foreigners in Switzerland'

The Brazilian, who came to Switzerland two years ago to live with her partner, explained to the other customer that she intended to buy the fruit and was simply checking to see it was ripe.

She was then told to “go back to Africa”.

Nadimeire S. subsequently went to the police, lodging a formal complain against the woman who had abused her. Police confirm they are investigating the case.

“I really don’t want to complain and I know that there are people like that, but this week was particularly bad,” said the 31-year-old of the incident, explaining she has repeatedly been the target of racism or discrimination in Switzerland because of the colour of her skin.

“I want to integrate here as much as possible; I have already done two courses and work as an English teacher,” said the Brazilian, who was described as speaking good German.

Not an isolated incident

The case of Nadimeire S. is not an isolated one.

A report published in April by the Federal Commission against Racism (FCR) and Swiss human rights portal humanrights.ch shows the number of racist incidents reported last year in Switzerland was a record high 301.

Racism against black people accounted for 95 of those cases, according to the study examining racist incidents reported to a network of 27 bureaus assisting victims of racism across Switzerland.

Commenting on the high figure, report co-author David Mühlemann said the 2017 rise could possibly be due to greater awareness among people affected by racism or better access to advice bureaus.

But Mühlemann also warned the figure “could also be an indication of an actual increase in incidents.” He said far-right political parties across Europe had made extreme positions more socially acceptable, adding “Many people no longer feel bound to social conventions and are openly racist.”

Read also: Zurich police found not guilty in racial profiling case

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