SWITZERLAND: ‘North African & Arab Muslims make the laws here’

The spectacular fight which causes the district of Saint-Laurent to hold its breath, where the Lausanne police took over for three hours, is setting tongues wagging. Many traders and customers complain of a climate of fear which has established itself in the heart of the Olympic city.

Islam vs Europe “For several months, it has been Arab Muslims who make the law here,” declares a South-American waitress. Her boss agrees. “The North Africans are sowing terror. They are violent and arrogant. They do deals in the toilets of the bistros, smoke weed on the terraces, bother everyone and no one dares to say anything.” She says she was very afraid two weeks ago when she told two clients that she didn’t want any dealers in her premises.

One of them took a knife out and said to me: “We make the law here.” To make peace, I came to them serving them as their “dear”, being nice to them even though they disgust me. It’s really horrible,” she says, choking up. The owner of a bar in Saint-Laurent notes that there is an “undesirable clientèle consisting of Arab and black drug dealers who drive off the real customers”.

Leaning on his elbows on the counter of a bar, a Congolese who has been in Switzerland for around 20 years says with contempt: “Lausanne is no longer Lausanne”.

Jean-Philippe Pittet, spokesman for the municipal police in Lausanne, firmly rejects the existence of a no-go area. “Anyone who feels threatened should call the police immediately,” he declares. The malaise and the feeling of insecurity are also felt in other districts of Lausanne. Traders from la Riponne, Tunnel and Chauderon confirmed it to 20 minutes online.

According to a Tunisian, since the Arab Spring, “North Africans who have done prisone time have ended up in Lausanne. Even the black drug dealers are scared of them.” “They’re also involved in most of the fights outside discotheques in Lausanne,” claims a clubber from Renens.

Are the people arrested in the fight on Wednesday evening North Africans, as several witnesses claim? Jean-Philippe Pittet did not want to respond to this question. Did the police find the rifle and bladed weapons used by the people involved in the disturbance? The spokesman for the Lausanne police did not want to make any comment on that either. However, he notes that in the last few months there has been an increase in burglaries in the Vaud capital. “Around two-thirds of the individuals arrested are North African,” he observes.