At the recent UN General Assembly, US President Donald Trump cited Switzerland to denounce what he called “the ingratitude of migrants towards their host country”, claiming that 72% of prisoners in Switzerland are foreign nationals. While the figure is accurate, the way Trump used it is simplistic and misleading. Context is essential. The overrepresentation of foreigners in crime statistics is a universal phenomenon, observed in many countries worldwide. Yet delinquency or crime cannot be explained by nationality alone, isolated from legal, socio-economic and demographic factors. The judicial system In Switzerland, several structural reasons help explain why 72% of prisoners are foreign nationals. One factor is that foreign detainees cannot serve their sentences outside prison. “Foreigners often don’t have a fixed residence in Switzerland and therefore cannot benefit from electronic bracelets or house arrest, nor from community service as an alternative form of punishment,” ...
