City of Geneva Intercultural Profile
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
City of Geneva Intercultural Profile Background 1 Geneva is like no other city in the ICC network or indeed like few other cities in the world. It is at one and the same time a globally-significant city with an iconic brand; a transnational urban agglomeration, a regional capital and a relatively small city of neighbourhoods with intensely parochial concerns. This brings an intriguing combination of challenges and opportunities from the perspective of diversity and interculturality. Geneva is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland (after Zurich) and is the largest in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Whilst the municipality itself (Ville de Genève) has a population of 191,415, the canton of Geneva (République et Canton de Genève, which includes the city) has 463,919 residents. The city is the economic hub of a growing urban agglomeration of 860 000 residents, which includes parts of the neighbouring French departments of Haute-Savoie and Ain, as well as one district of the canton of Vaud. The majority ethnic group, Swiss, makes up 60,83% of the canton’s inhabitants and 39.2% of Geneva's population are non-nationals. The most significant ethnic groups are: Portuguese-7.40%; French-5.5%; Italians-4.85% and Spanish-2.95%. Of non-EU/EFTA migrants, the largest groups are, in this order,fromthe USA, Russia, Brazil, Kosovo,Turkey, former Yugoslavia, India and Morocco. 44.6% of the canton’s working age population are non-nationals and 54% hold at least one foreign passport 2 . At the end of 2010, the unemployment rate was 6% in Geneva, or twice the Swiss level 3. The principal subject of this report is the Geneva municipality but reference will also be made to the canton where issues and responsibilities reach beyond the municipal competence or where the competences of the city and the canton overlap. National context Switzerland is a nation with a distinctive history in regard to cultural diversity. It is a federal state founded upon the consociation of four linguistic-ethnic groups (German, French, Italian and Romansch speaking). It is also characterised by a historic resistance to political centralisation, cultural domination, religious intolerance and restriction of free trade which manifested in various of its larger neighbours at various times. Suspicion of the neighbours helped to bind the disparate groups into a lose national identity and a strong polity; whilst suspicion of each other created a strong federal framework which is vertically segmented and horizontally fragmented to ensure the powers of the state are diffused and subsidiary to the cantons. A highly developed system of ‘direct 1 This document is a revised version of the report based upon the visits of the CoE inspection team on 19 & 20 April 2011, comprising Paolo Attanasio, Oliver Freeman, Irena Guidikova and Phil Wood. 2 Portrait statistique des étrangers vivant à Genève. Résultats du recensement fédéral de la population et d’autres sources. Genève : Statistique Genève, Etudes et Documents No 37, 2005 3 http://www.geneve.ch/statistique/domaines/01/01_02_1/tableaux.asp#3 [11 novembre 2011] 1 | P a g e democracy’ ensures that that Swiss people exercises an on-going control on federal, cantonal and local affairs. Because of its traditions as a place of sanctuary (since the time of the Huguenot refugees from France) and as an open market, Switzerland has long been accustomed to accommodating foreigners. This grew rapidly from the industrialization of the economy in the mid nineteenth century, to the extent that on the eve of World War 1 the foreign-born population numbered 15% of the total. This proportion fluctuated substantially during the twentieth century, according to the labour demands of Swiss business. It is likely that throughout this time few Swiss considered theirs a country of immigration, but rather as an economy with periodic need of temporary foreign labour. Large numbers of workers, particularly from southern Europe, were strongly encouraged during times of plenty, but efficiently ushered out when no longer required, in what was known as the ‘rotation model’. Any foreigners who did manage to put down roots at this time were generally expected to assimilate into Swiss ways, and the language of their canton, as quickly as possible. With the economic recessions of the ‘70s and ‘80s large numbers of foreign workers were rendered unemployed and destitute and their welfare fell largely to the cantonal authorities, who responded with varying degrees of charity, with the French-speaking areas being in general the most accommodating. By the ‘90s it was clear the old model of rotation or assimilation was no longer adequate in the age of globalisation, but the Swiss were unwilling to adopt a British or Dutch-style multicultural approach. The use of multiculturalism as a term was limited strictly to defining the inter-relationship of the four language groups. Concern with the growth in non-European migrant numbers pushed national government into forging a new doctrine which came to be known as Fördern und Fordern - which approximates in English to ‘carrot and stick’. This doctrine derives from the fact that the Swiss considered it as primarily the responsibility of migrants to integrate themselves into the host society. Conservatives interpreted this doctrine to mean that the state would exert mandatory and coercive action to ensure such behaviour, whilst liberals saw a role for the State in assisting those who needed help to integrate – but, one way or the other, integrate they must. The last few years has been notable particularly for the rise of a populist anti-immigrant agenda, characterised by the emergence of the Swiss Peoples Party (SVP) and its leader Christoph Blocher who was, for a while, Minister of Justice and Police in charge of migration questions. This tendency came to the world’s attention in November 2009 when Switzerland held a referendum on making a constitutional amendment banning the construction of new minarets. It was approved by 57.5% with only four of the 26 Swiss cantons: Geneva, Vaud et Neuchâtel in the French-speaking part of the country and the city of Basel in the German-speaking part, opposed to the motion – the strongest of these being Geneva (59.7%). Although such populist anti-liberal movements have flourished in several European countries in recent years, ironically it may be that the extremely democratic structures of Switzerland allow it to thrive and become more sustainable than elsewhere. Governments elsewhere may present a publicly tough stance on migration, to appease populist opinion, whilst maintaining ‘behind closed doors’ the protection of migrant and minority rights. But is much harder to do this in Switzerland where important decisions are taken out of the control of the political class and put directly in the hands of the people 4. 4 D’Amato, Gianni (2010 ) ‘Switzerland: a multicultural country without multicultural policies? ’ In Vertovec, S and Wessendorf , S (eds) The Multicultural Backlash: European discourses, policies and practices . (London; Routledge) 2 | P a g e Local context Historically, Geneva is an independent city state of safe haven and sanctuary for the persecuted. It was the city of Calvin, where Protestants and Catholics have continued to live in relative harmony, and where Church and State have been separated by statute with the agreement of both faith communities. It is also the city of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, where he wrote the discourse on the origin and foundation of Inequality among men, and more recently the birthplace of Tariq Ramadan, the leading advocate of a liberal form of European Islam. For these and many other reasons Geneva has a strong self-image and civic pride as a place which follows its own destiny as a cosmopolitan and liberal city, regardless of the changing moods and conditions in the world around it. It is no accident therefore that it has become the home of many organisations which represent universalism, humanism and international solidarity, such as the European HQ of the United Nations, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Economic Forum (WEF), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). This brings the city enormous benefits, but also some complications, as will be noted later. The Conseil administratif constitutes the executive authority of the City of Geneva. It is composed of 5 members elected every four years and operates as a collegiate authority. Since 2011, the Conseil administratif includes two representatives of the Socialist Party (PS), one representative of the Liberal-radical Party (PLR), one of the Green Party and one of A gauche toute (Party of the left) . The president of the executive department is elected annually and acts as mayor. Unitl recently, Sandrine Salerno, herself the child of migrants, occupied this position. The current Mayor, Pierre Mauder, 33 years old, holds a double French-Swiss nationality (PLR). Sami Kanaan (PS), born in Beirut, is also a member of the executive. The City Parliament (Conseil municipal) on the other hand, holds the legislative power. It is made up of 80 members, with elections also held every four years. The City Parliament decrees regulations and by-laws that are executed by the Conseil administratif and the administration. Unlike the member of the City Council, the members of the City Parliament are not politicians by profession, but are paid a fee based on their attendance. Any Swiss national resident of Geneva allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the City Parliament.