Backlash against Americans in Switzerland

Visas, Permits, Passports and Naturalization
1
Open Letter to Jeff Cellars, Charge d‘Affaires, US Embassy, Bern

Dear Mr Cellars:

First, congratulations on your posting to the US Embassy in Bern as Charge d’Affaires. Switzerland is a beautiful country in areas and Bern, with its Altstadt, is particularly lovely. But you know all that by now so let’s get to the point.

Since the US launched its tax war on Switzerland, life for Americans and green card holders here has become challenging and increasingly uncomfortable. This began in 2012 with closure of bank accounts belonging to Americans living and working here by most banks and then many of us began to notice that companies here seemed to have hidden signs that said "Americans need not apply". As a result, 800 Americans took the nuclear option by expatriating at your embassy last year in order to survive economically and to hold marriages together. You may have seen a similar number in 2013.

Beginning in 1998 there was a backlash against Jews in Switzerland after the US and the worldwide Jewish community painted Swiss as Nazi sympathizers and war profiteurs. The Swiss banks agreed to pay $1.2 billion to Jewish groups to settle the matter although it looked partially like a form of extortion with the US leading the charge. The final act of this backlash may have been the assassination of Rabbi Gruenbaum in Zurich in 2000, probably by right-wing extremists.

Americans in Switzerland in 2013 are feeling like Jews in the late 1990s. In addition to knowing that we are no longer desired, many of us fear that the backlash against us is growing and wonder whether we will assaulted or lose our lives as the tax battle between the US government and the Swiss banks continues. Has the US State Department and, in particular, the US Embassy in Bern thought about the impact that this tax war is having on Americans living and working in Switzerland? Has the DOS held discussions with the Justice Department to alert them to fallout and backlash against Americans that this is having? Has the US Embassy in Bern developed contingency plans to evacuate the 40,000 Americans here or protect them within the US Embassy compound or other safe areas if the backlash begins resulting in assassinations?

Keep in mind that although Switzerland looks like a safe and charming country, there are one to two million weapons, including military weapons, owned privately and stored at homes by the Swiss militia military. It should not be underestimated what rogue right-wing nationalists might do as evidenced by the Rabbi Gruenbaum’s assassination.

Unlike US Embassy senior personnel, who apparently do not list their telephone numbers and addresses, Americans in Switzerland have normally lived openly. Our children are known in their schools, public or private, as American and adults are also known within their community or at work as American. It would be rather easy to develop address lists of Americans for assault or assassination purposes, even without an extremist breaking into the US Embassy records, although that would likely be a treasure trove - and we know how poorly the US government protects its top secret records.

I would suggest that you, at a minimum, reach out to the American community in Switzerland to express your concerns and sympathies to the growing backlash caused by the US government and the impact it has had on the personal lives of Americans in Switzerland. Without causing undue alarm, you might wish to advise that Americans should carry on but that they should make efforts to reduce their visibility, including on-line visibility, by de-listing their telephone numbers and addresses, removing social media entries, etc. You might also mention that contingency plans are in place, if they indeed are, to protect American lives in Switzerland should the backlash escalate. You might also speak with your friends at the DOJ to ensure that they understand the impact their tax war has had on the American community in Switzerland, not that I expect that they would give a darn.

Finally, I would like to mention that many Americans here no longer support the US government after the damage it has caused to their personal lives. You’ve lost the hearts and minds of ordinary Americans and this may prove difficult to get back.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year,

Yours truly,

DuePonte

2
Europeans hardly need an excuse to stick the boot into Jews. It's in our blood - has been for centuries.

I very much doubt that the situation of the American community in Switzerland is even remotely as precarious as that of the Jews.

You've got good reasons to be miffed with your government, but hyperbole isn't going to do anything for your credibility.

Good luck, and let us know if he replies.

3
Yeh well maybe they should have let Kash into the restaurant

4
I would reply but I'm afraid the US spy system may arrest me for saying something inappropriate.

5
Ok, here we go again...

Point number one--the US embassy in Bern [insert city] doesn't give one hoot on the plight of US citizens in this country or any other country. Their role, mandate, resources, etc... are all geared towards US diplomacy with CH [insert country] concerning the major economic or political topic of the day.

Point number two--the US expat community is small, has no voice, and no leverage, so no one in Washington is going to listen, or even waste one ounce of political capital on this issue. Unless you live in the 50 states, you basically do not exist (the US census confirms this).

Point number three--no amount of whinging, whining, or flag waving in their face will change the situation, given the two points above. In fact, it can often have the opposite effect.

Final point--there is only one way to deal with this issue, vote with your feet.

6
As I did, in 2009, when doing so was still free, and I'd never heard of FATCA.

But I could see the writing on the wall, in fact, I would have done it earlier (2006), but didn't want to wast a day going to Bern to do so.

Glad I did.

Tom

7
Although there was a backlash by many Swiss against the Jewish community in the late 1990s due to the reparations settlement, Swiss banks did not routinely cancel their bank accounts nor were they necessarily discriminated against by employers for being Jewish as has been happening to Americans living here.

Other differences between the current situation for Americans and the late 1990s for Jews:

a. Americans, because they are classified as part of a broader group called "US Persons" (or "US-Steuerpflichtig"), can be discriminated against under Swiss law because US Persons are not an ethnicity, nationality or religion.

b. If Jews, of any nationality, had been actively discriminated against in Switzerland, many of their governments, including the US, would have likely intervened on their behalf. However, since the US government is leading the charge against its own citizens (and other US Persons), it has not taken actions to protect Americans from the impact of its decisions. Americans are clearly on their own here.

My Open Letter should be seen as a complaint to the US Charge d'Affaires in Bern. It is like yelling at a referee who has made a bad call - the referee may not change the call but it might have an effect on his future decisions. And, no, I don't expect that Jeff Cellars will respond. He likely has more important items on his agenda - visiting companies in Switzerland, Christmas parties, looking for a next assignment (he's ad interim).

8
Have you sent the letter to him?

If you want to get his attention you should probably get it published in a newspaper...putting it on the Englishforum will achieve diddly.

9
I can only heartily agree with this... I almost laughed aloud when I read the comparison to the persecution of Jews and a Jewish leader being assassinated, to what the OP perceives that Americans are supposedly now experiencing. Ironically enough, the Americans I know very well have not mentioned this once, and look as happy as they ever have.

10
I agree with the points you've made. The current situation for Americans in Switzerland (or abroad) has similarities to East Germans who were fed up with their lot 20 years back. They could fight the East German government but the best way for them was to get out, or, in our case, renounce US citizenship. Still, I admire those East Germans who had the backbone to fight the East German government until they were imprisoned or thrown out.

One of my favorite East German songs rallies against spineless people who would not fight against the East German totalitarian state, "Kinder, sind so kleine Hände". The last line says it clearly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcdkwdfz0GA

Bettina Wegner was expelled in 1983 for her ongoing criticism of the East German state.

11
Ask them how they feel about this situation, Richdog. Suddenly you'll see worry and anxiety in their faces.

12
Maybe Corbets can comment, he has been here a fair while if I recall, so is well-placed to give an opinion.

13
as an American, you are safer on the streets of Switzerland than you are on the streets of any street in any major city in the US. while I understand the difficulty of obtaining work permits or opening bank accounts in Switzerland, as well as the hassles of FATCA and non-resdent taxation, the threat of physical violence seems like a rather absurd angle to play.

14
I am no good in writing letters ,article to news paper ,embassies or whatever .But I reading this Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz , I cant figure out the point you try to make .Jews, American, Nazis ,Right wing .assassination etc etc

15
I think you might have exaggerated a bit but then again I understand your frustration...As DB said though, doesn't do much for your credibility. Also, I guess you should be writing to the US congress not the ambassador in CH.

16
LOL...

Seriously, worried about being assassinated, needing to be evacuated, reduce visibility?

What have you been smoking, you sound like a right wing/conspiracy nut yourself.

Oh, and CH doesn't have a militia.

17
I`m getting a mind picture! ...... Swiss men in bright red KKK hoodies emblazoned with white crosses, armed with their long military rifles, meeting after dark, stalking American citizens in the streets, trailing them to the Bahnhoff, or creeping up to their apartments to assasinate them while they sleep.

Afterwards they meet up at the Stammtisch to drink beer and tell their stories......... clean their rifles ... and figure out how to account for the bullets they fired, and worry about military balistics tracing their guilty weapons.

Realy!

Are Americans getting so paranoid? I know they believe vapour trails behind jets is poison their government is spraying them with, but being assasinated in Switzerland - like a Jihad or somethng - really takes the cake. Imo anyway.

The money thing is very annoying - because Switzerland has always had bank secrecy, and acted as "the worlds bank" - now being bankrupted by greedy American politicians looking to fill their empty coffers, while doing nothing for their own people, except create more problems for the hardworking masses.

18
I'm not going to jump in with the tinfoil hat-wearing OP - I'm more concerned about the US government assassinating me than some random Euro-wimp - but really, if you haven't heard me b****ing and moaning about FATCA and the effects it's having on me, you've had your head stuck in a fishbowl for the last year. Almost every conversation I have with someone new these days starts out that way.

I'll burn that blue passport the very instant I have a chance - but I need another one first.

19
DuePonte, it really would make for a stronger letter if you toned down the rhetoric.

Comparisons to the Holocaust, etc., only serve to discredit your legitimate concerns.

In talking to those unaffected by the plight of Americans in Switzerland, it is important, IMO, to avoid hyperbole, avoid discussions of discrimination or unfairness - these are too easily dismissed, as these concerns are irrelevant to the folks back home. (Let alone to the Powers That Be.) It would likely be better to stick the facts of US taxation of Americans abroad (this alone comes as a shock to many), to how FATCA is hurting the 'normal guy', and most importantly, to how FATCA could hurt the US domestic economy.

You'll still be tilting at windmills, but at least you'll be doing so with a sharpened lance.

Hats off to you for continually raising awareness - but I think a letter with a different emphasis would have a better effect.

---

(Has anyone figured out what to do with Pillar 3 accounts yet?)

20
One is not posted to an Embassy as a Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. The highest ranking officer in the absence of the (or an) Ambassador assumes that role. In most cases that will the the Deputy Chief of Mission, in State Department parlance. One might call that the "deputy ambassador", but that isn't proper terminology.

Some embassies do not have an ambassador, either because they are not important enough (decades ago, "minor" countries had "legations" not embassies. I recall that the US post in Bulgaria was once that), or because there is a regional ambassador who is accredited (and received "agrément") from more than one country.

The most interesting European situation is Cyprus where the Embassy in Nicosia has an office on the Turkish-controlled side (Turkish Republic of Norther Cyprus, a defacto country and it seems these days, somewhat more solvent than the Greek-speaking Republic). But I digress.