Geneva Crime On The Rise
Geneva crime surge targets Arab tourists
GENEVA — An assault on a Saudi Arabian outside a Geneva night club has cast an unwanted spotlight on surging street crime and claims of "cut throat" neighbourhoods in the Swiss city with an international reputation for tranquility.
The Arabic television channel Al-Arabiya stoked the dispute with a report last month on the July 16 incident involving a 38-year-old Saudi man, that criticised security in the summer playground for wealthy Middle East tourists.
With a lucrative global diplomatic centre to maintain, Geneva is sensitive about anything that might harm its pristine image and repeated high position in global quality of life rankings.
"That image corresponded to a genuine image of a safe city," tourism office director Francois Bryand told AFP.
Bryand has written to the regional government to express concern about "insecurity". "We had an advantage over other cities that we wouldn't like to lose," he explained.
Gulf tourists generate some 250 million Swiss francs (164 million euros, 233 million dollars), in revenue a year locally, about one-tenth of the overall total, according to Geneva's tourist office.
Attempts to control the fallout have run up against campaigning for regional elections in October and signs of a substantial growth in crime, while the "paucity" of Swiss data on crime has muddied the real picture.
Geneva owes its international aura "to its reputation as a calm place of course," the canton's chief prosecutor Daniel Zappelli acknowledged in a radio interview.
However, he pointed to a "50 percent increase" in crimes like assaults and thefts over the past seven years, especially in two neighbourhoods, Paquis and Eaux-Vives.
They flank the city's top attraction, Lake Geneva, and are popular places for an evening out. Those areas have also been targeted by high profile police swoops in recent months.
"There are more assaults, more thefts, there is more of everything and to respond to all that there is the same body of police," Zappelli said on Radio Suisse Romande.
Ever since he was elected, the prosecutor has been at odds with the region's governing coalition over policing.
"I said clearly that there are neighbourhoods that have become cut-throat. It's an expression of course, but there are neighbourhoods that are no longer safe at all," he added last Thursday.
Street crime in Geneva hardly rivals most major world cities. But with a population of just 188,000, Switzerland's second biggest city is much smaller.
"We have seen a growth in petty crime which generates a feeling of insecurity... that didn't exist a few years ago," cantonal police spokesman Jean-Philippe Brandt said.
Official data showed that the number of annual homicide convictions remained largely in single figures in the canton of Geneva between 2000 and 2006.
But convictions for offences involving bodily harm -- anything from a slap to muggings or more serious attacks -- doubled to 451 over the same period.
Police figures showed similar growth in the number of charges for such offences between 2000 and 2008, while national data suggested a similar trend. Thefts, including burglaries, also grew by some three-quarters in Geneva.
But the figures have also been inflated by the recent recognition of domestic violence.
In addition, crime watching is rudimentary in Switzerland: the first ever official attempt to compare the 26 cantons is only due to be released next year.
"That's the paucity of official statistics. We're in a kind of debate without figures," a Swiss statistician commented on condition of anonymity.
Despite its role in sparking the debate, doubts have emerged in recent days about the link between the assault on the Saudi man and the broader trend.
Citing police sources, the daily Tribune de Geneve reported that the man was among a crowd leaving a night club in the city's plushest shopping street who began arguing.
He reportedly suffered head injuries when he fell to the ground after being slapped, plunging him into a coma for several days.
Brandt declined to give details on the investigation.
Comments
in September 2011 i was walking on the lake side at around 12:00 noon & suddenly I was attacked by a one person with some gang around him he was talking to me in Arabic slang language seems from north African countries "Tunisian or Algerian or Moroccan".He was saying are you from Sadia Arabia do you know my accent,he tried to make me fill down by putting his legs in between my legs. I felt disappointed because I came for business and perviously I lived in it for long time it was safe & quit. I called the police to report they said there is no report because nothing happen to you.??!! I don't feel to come back again & already informed my friends & family in the Arabian Gulf that Geneva is not safe any more.Good luck for economy sector of tourism.
We were in Geneva last week and there was no improvement of the situation. My husband almost got robbed on a Sunday evening in the tourist area by a gang of three. No police on sight. The reality is totally opposite with the projected image of Geneva. Will not recommend the city to any friends, particularly Chinese tourists.
I am the child of European immigrants who came to the US in the 1950's. This was GOOD immigration who adapted to their new country, while respecting and passing on to their children the traditions and languages of their countries of origin. I've been going to Europe all my life and lived there for 20 years, and every time I go back I notice how much the cities have deteriorated. Europe was so peaceful and clean - I would envy their cities. Now it's dangerous to walk around after a certain hour. Immigration is a positive thing in a country like the US; in Europe because of deep cultural histories that have bound people for thousands of years, immigration has a negative impact. It ruins and dilutes the native culture, and marginalizes the immigrants. Germany needs to be German, France French, Spain Spanish, etc. Importing other non-European cultures doesn't create a beautiful melange like we have in the US, but only bitterness and anger.
Geneva is a hell hole. You will find illegal immigrants on the prawl in every corner of the city.
I was robbed of my wallet in broad day light & no one was willing to help. Police arrived to late but rather than looking for the robbers let advising me to go to the police station to file a complaint. After 3 hours of wait at the station (there were 13 other people robbed in the same hour) I was given a print out which I myself could have done in a better way.
Be careful next time you are in Geneva & watch your back.
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