Economist.com Cities Guide: Zurich Briefing - July 2006

News this month

No safe haven

Zurich’s city government is protesting against plans to toughen Switzerland’s asylum laws. Local politicians have urged voters to reject more restrictive asylum laws in a national referendum in September. The proposed changes—which include making it more difficult to request asylum and axeing welfare payments to failed asylum-seekers—were approved by Switzerland’s federal parliament last December. Christoph Blocher, Switzerland’s conservative justice minister, insists that the changes will curb illegal immigration and human trafficking. But the proposal has proved unpopular abroad—riling such groups as Amnesty International and the UN's refugee agency—and in Switzerland a coalition of left-wing parties, religious organisations and charities have gathered enough signatures to force a vote on the matter.

The city government issued a press release on June 26th warning that the proposed changes “would harm basic humanitarian and constitutional principles and are not in keeping with current realities.” This statement was endorsed by all nine members of the city executive, including four politicians from the centre-right Christian Democratic and Radical parties, which have supported tightening the laws. The national vote will take place on September 24th and will be decided by a straight majority count.

Right on

The centre-right kept its hold on Zurich’s cantonal government in July, when voters replaced the outgoing public works minister, Dorothée Fierz, with a fellow Radical Party politician, Ursula Gut. Ms Gut, whose right-of-centre party is far less radical than its name suggests, easily defeated her Green Party rival, Ruth Genner, carrying 158 of the canton’s 171 districts.

Analysts had predicted a closer finish, but Ms Genner’s candidacy failed to get as much of a lift as expected from a debate over airport noise. Ms Gut’s campaign was also bolstered by leaders of the conservative Swiss People’s Party, who decided not to field a candidate for fear of splitting centre-right voters. If Ms Genner had won, control of the seven-member executive would have moved to the left-of-centre Social Democratic and Green parties.

With the entire executive up for re-election next spring, Ms Gut’s success gave a much-needed boost to the Radicals. The party was shaken by scandal in May, when Ms Fierz was forced to resign after leaking confidential documents to the media, in an attempt to damn a rival minister.

A sordid trade

An international prostitution ring faced its fate in court on July 12th. Zurich state prosecutors had sought harsh sentences for seven defendants, but the district criminal court sentenced six of the accused to between one and 18 months in prison, and the main defendant to only 26 months. This fell well short of prosecutors’ demands of 5½ years. What is more, the defendant was released, having already served enough of his prison sentence over the course of the trial.

Prosecutors alleged that the defendants recruited more than 70 Brazilian women, flew them to Zurich and charged them high rent. The women were then forced to pay for these expenses with money earned from prostitution. Defence lawyers insisted that the women agreed to work as prostitutes; prosecutors argued that consent was given under intense financial duress, which qualifies as human trafficking under a 2002 federal court ruling. The district court found such duress in only five of the 74 cases cited by prosecutors, and ruled that the defendants deserved only mild sentences as they did not supply false information or exert excessive pressure on the women. The ruling has angered women’s-rights groups, who argue that the gentle punishment suggests that exploitation is not a serious crime. State prosecutors plan to appeal against the court’s decision.

Prostitution is legal in Zurich, but only in licensed premises in non-residential areas; individual prostitutes require valid work permits. Police estimate that some 4,000 prostitutes ply their trade legally in up to 400 licensed rooms and brothels around the city.

Winterthur of discontent

Upheaval at Winterthur, a European insurer, has shaken the company's namesake, a town 30km north-east of Zurich. On June 14th AXA, a French insurance giant, announced that it would buy Credit Suisse’s stake in Winterthur for SFr12.3 billion ($10.0 billion). Local unions and politicians are not pleased, as they had favoured a public flotation of the shares. Ernst Wohlwend, Winterthur’s mayor, declared that he wanted to speak with AXA’s management about its plans. Winterthur is the town’s biggest private employer, with almost 3,000 locals on its payroll (of 19,000 around the world).

Although AXA has yet to estimate global job losses from the sale, its chief executive, Henri de Castries, said that he expected few jobs to be cut in Winterthur itself. The sale, which will make AXA the world’s third-biggest insurance company behind America’s AIG and the Netherlands’ ING, must still be approved by regulators and is not expected to be completed before the end of the year.

Waiting to tie the knot

Zurich’s citizens are waiting longer to get married, according to figures released by the city’s statistics department in June. The report, based on the city's 3,393 weddings in 2005, revealed that men and women are marrying around two years later than they did in 1995. Zurich brides are now an average 31.6 years old, while grooms are an average 34.5; the average age gap between partners has remained unchanged.

The figures also reveal that foreigners—who comprise almost one-third of Zurich’s population—seem to be the marrying kind. A staggering 73% of weddings in Zurich involve at least one non-Swiss: marriages between a Swiss and a foreigner account for 42% of the total, while all-foreign weddings make up the other 31%.

Catch if you can

July 2006

Gregory Crewdson: photographs 1985-2005

Until August 20th 2006

The Swiss Foundation of Photography in Winterthur presents a comprehensive look at one of America’s most provocative photographers. Mr Crewdson examines American life in detailed, carefully choreographed images. Evoking stills from moody art-house films, the pictures are beautiful, at times disturbing, and almost always tinged with the surreal.

Swiss Foundation of Photography, Grüzenstrasse 45, Winterthur. Bus no. 2 from Winterthur’s main train station (a 25-minute ride from Zurich station) to the Fotozentrum stop. Tel: +41 (0) 52 234 1060. Open: Tues-Sun 11am-6pm (Wed until 8pm). Admission: SFr15 (concessions SFr11). For more details visit the foundation’s website (in German).

More from the Zurich cultural calendar