In case you missed the black sheep the UDC has a new ad campaign for you!

Help me, I think I am going to lose my work permit! The Fascists are coming for me!

I generally try to stay out of Swiss politics. One, it is a lot harder to understand than French politics or American politics, and during my first couple of years here I had the policy of, “They let me live here, I have a job, I am going to keep my mouth shut.” The whole when in Rome stuff. But the UDC (SVP in German) gets on my last everlovin’ nerve. I can’t decide who I dislike more, Nicolas Sarkozy or Christoph Blocher. Probably Sarkozy, but Blocher, especially when he speaks French like an ignorant fool (which considering he is an ignorant fool should be expected), I just want to slap him. I simply don’t know how a logical, reasonable human being can think like him.

In case you missed last year’s ad campain where the pure, Swiss, white sheep kicked out the black sheep for more “security” (ah the old theme of security), you can find the German version of that beautiful poster on the Wikipedia entry on the UDC. The French version is the same except it said, “Pour plus de sécurité.” Well obviously the big heads at the UDC decided that one racist, incendiary ad campaign simply wasn’t enough. The black sheep were just too successful. You see, black sheep are supposed to be criminal foreigners, but in reality this designation extended to anyone foreign and, well, brown.

As a public service, Ms. Mac posted the German version of the new poster. The new posted is a big pot of shiny red Swiss passports with a bunch of brown hands grabbing for them. Again, ostensibly, this poster is against mass naturalization. The problem is that naturalization, like the “criminal foreigners” isn’t the problem in Switzerland.

I wouldn’t bat an eyelash if this poster was in France, as being naturalized in France, while getting harder, is WAY than ever getting a Swiss passport. To put it in perspective: I will become a French citizen, incha Allah, next year, based on five years of marriage to a French national (And yes BTW I deserve my French passport thank you very much). My husband has been in Switzerland since 2003. He will be in line for Swiss citizenship, and thus get to stick his foreign hand in the big pot of passports, in APRIL 2016. 12 years peeps. And there are a series of penalities for moving between cities, cantons and so on. Oh, and by the way, that is 12 years on the same type of residence permit. Which is why 2016-2003 equals 13 (see you thought I was just bad at math). If you had two or three different types of permits, the 12 years counts from your most recent permit type. And the most previous three years have to be spent in the same commune. Oh, and by the way, having citizenship based on residence is not a right. They can “choose not to renew” your C permit or turn it into citizenship if you spend too much time on public assistance, if you are sick, and so on. And when you have done your time to submit the naturalization request, even if your nose is clean, it is still at the discretion of the commune where you apply. I have heard of people being refused citizenship for not being “Swiss enough” and by “Swiss enough” they mean knowing the local wine, having a carnotzet, and especially marrying Swiss. So let me get this straight, you shouldn’t marry a Swiss person for a residence permit and if you do you will get major hell from the authorities, but if you marry someone who isn’t Swiss, then in 20 years they will turn down your naturalization for not being Swiss enough. Ok. So my point is that it is entirely conceivable that you could be here 20 or 30 years without ever becoming a citzen, and without your children ever becoming citizens. I know someone personally whose child is born in Switzerland and STATELESS. Stateless. In the 21st century. Why? Because becoming Swiss is just that hard. Which is exactly my point.

That’s all fine and good. I ain’t here to judge Swiss naturalization laws. My rant is not about that. My rant is about the fact that due to the obvious difficulty in attaining Swiss passports mentioned anecdotally above, the Pass the Pot of Passports Poster is a giant hunk of racist crap. Just like the black sheep, it is all about appealing to the “insecurity” demographic. Ooh let’s keep the foreigners out! That poster makes me sick when I see it. I have nothing to be worried about, safely wrapped in my white privilege and my full-time job and BA, and even I feel uncomfortable when I see that poster. I can’t imagine how an unemployed person must feel, or a sick person, or even a traveller.

I am probably going to get arrested and kicked out of Switzerland for taking a Sharpie drawing a picture of Blocher with a Hitler moustache on the next one I see. Swiss jails are clean though.
There I feel better. Rant over.

Tags : UDC needs to stop with their foolishness