Kosovars nearly top Swiss crime list

Of the 270 attempted murders recorded in Switzerland in 2020, 99 ʹ nearly 33 percent were committed by the Swiss. Other cases are attributed to foreign citizens, conveys albinfo.ch.

The FSO also found that Swiss citizens were responsible for less than half the cases in which one victim was caused severe bodily injury: 317 out of a total of 712 recorded acts, translated at 45 percent; 55 percent remaining crimes were committed by foreigners.

In both cases it is a higher percentage than that of foreigners as part of the Swiss population.

According to the Swiss Federal Statistics Office, foreigners accounted for 25.1 percent of the population by the end of 2020. While that figure does not include tourists, it is still higher than the 33 percent and 55 percent listed above.

The crime rate among foreign residents is a frequent political conversation point in Switzerland, especially among the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP).

Police in Cyrih were forced to grant the nationality of all violators after a SVP-backed referendum in January 2021 urged them to do so, albinfo.ch forward.

Why do foreigners have a higher rate of violent crime in Switzerland?

There are two explanations why people of foreign origin resort to violence more often than their Swiss counterparts.

According to Dirk Baier, a violence researcher at the University of Applied Sciences of Cyril, the lowest level of income and education among foreign residents is one of the reasons.

“This economic disadvantage could lead to a related response: what you cannot buy, you can steal”, he told the Swiss news paper “20 Minutes”.

Baier said these factors were far more important than if someone was a stranger or not. If you consider young people who have roughly the same attitudes and social conditions, you see no difference in the violent behavior of the Swiss and foreigners”.

The living conditions of these economically disadvantaged groups are also a contributing factor.

They live in smaller apartments and often with several brothers and sisters. Those who spend too much time in public space are also more likely to engage in conflicts that could escalate into violence”.

Baier added that the <x0 minute suspension added to violence among foreigners has nothing to do with biology or genes. It is created by external circumstances, and therefore something can be done about it”.

This has been echoed by Swiss government statements on the scale of crime of all forms (i.e. that is. Not just violent crime.

“Dates between foreigners and Swiss are relatively small when various age and gender structures are taken into account. If only residential populations are considered. leaves out asylum seekers, and tourists or passing travelers are virtually lacking. ”

How can this be prevented or restrained?

One way to counter this trend, Baier said, is to introduce children with background migration with the educational system at an early stage, for example through language teachings.

Anyone who understands and communicates in the local language will be less likely to resort to violence”.

There are other socio-cultural factors in the game, followed away by albinfo.ch.

This includes the family situation in which someone grows up. If he or she has a form of education that is characterized by the domination of a father who uses violence himself, the child is socialized according to the”, Baier noted.

A honour to protect or protect the family prompted a number of people of foreign origin to react more quickly to aggressive incentives”, he added.

Baier said the government could do more, but was often controlled by a cultural reluctance to intervene in family affairs.

“Switzerland can still do a lot here, the reluctance to intervene in family affairs is still too big. ”

However, the Swiss are not innocent

The study did not completely free the Swiss.

“Foreigners commit violent crimes more often, but that does not mean that the Swiss do not do the same”, Bayer said.

There are many Swiss people who think they have the right to hit anyone who looks at them incorrectly”.

For example, in the past six years, serious physical injuries have been caused by Swiss more frequently than by foreign citizens, especially among those under the age of 24, the FSO reported.

In 2020, nearly half of all crimes were committed by the Swiss; however, these figures should be put into perspective: Since foreign residents make up only about one quarter of the total population, an average number of criminal acts are committed by foreigners, even among the suspected young.

Another disturbing finding: Violent knife crimes increasing in Switzerland

The number of homicides or attempted assassinations as well as severe physical injury caused by knives increased in 2020 and in 2021.

Keeping a knife has become more attractive as a means to express masculity”, Bayer explained.

Which nationalities are more involved in Swiss crime statistics?

People from these 10 countries committed the most crimes, the FSO found:

1. Portugal: 1014
2. Italy :866
3. Other Community: 827
4. Kosovo: 656
5. Germany: 589
6. Turkey: 435
7. France: 398
8. Serbia and Montenegro: 385
9. Northern Macedonia: 328
10. Spain: 289