The Swiss Federal Council has published a report identifying gaps in Switzerland’s current monitoring of racism and antisemitism and announced measures to address them.
The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG) has welcomed this development, highlighting its own long-standing antisemitism report as a central source of data that repeatedly calls for stronger federal engagement.
The report emphasises that racism and antisemitism remain deeply rooted in Swiss society and that recent years have seen a worsening of the situation. At the same time, it identifies significant shortcomings in monitoring, particularly underreporting, the recording of online hate speech, and the documentation of structural discrimination. The Federal Council has committed to addressing these deficiencies through a new package of measures.
For many years, the annual antisemitism report published by the SIG and the GRA Foundation against Racism and Antisemitism has provided a systematic overview of reported and observed incidents across German-, Italian-, and Romansh-speaking Switzerland. It documents antisemitic incidents in both public spaces and online, highlighting their forms, extent, and origins. This data serves as a basis for the development of preventive, educational, and prosecutorial measures.
However, the SIG, the GRA, and other civil society organisations are limited by their resources. They have long advocated for greater governmental involvement to ensure a comprehensive, 360-degree understanding of antisemitism in Switzerland. The Federal Council is urged to provide sustained support for existing monitoring tools from civil society while also developing its own instruments, such as the Living Together in Switzerland survey or the reporting platform for racist online hate speech.
The SIG welcomes the Federal Council’s intention to close remaining monitoring gaps. Future efforts will not only track incidents but also capture attitudes and personal experiences more comprehensively. Improved consolidation of data sources will offer a fuller understanding of the situation.
The report underlines the central role of civil society actors, who have long committed their own resources to this work. It highlights the necessity for the federal government to provide sustained support and take greater responsibility in this area, recognising civil society’s efforts as a critical foundation for understanding and combating racism and antisemitism in Switzerland.
