Gambiaj.com – (Banjul, The Gambia) – The Swiss city of Lausanne was thrown into chaos this week after the death of a 17-year-old youth of Gambian origin sparked two nights of violent riots.
The teenager, identified by Swiss media as Marvin M., lost his life in the early hours of Sunday when he crashed a scooter while fleeing from police patrol officers. Reports indicate that the scooter had been reported stolen.
Although the pursuing police car was said to have been trailing more than a hundred meters behind, crowds in Lausanne blamed law enforcement for the tragedy.
Marvin was born in The Gambia but later acquired Swiss citizenship, reflecting the experience of many African families who have migrated to Switzerland in search of better opportunities.
His sudden death has reignited long-standing tensions between young people of migrant backgrounds and police authorities in European cities.
By Sunday evening, the French-speaking city — Switzerland’s fourth largest — descended into unrest as hundreds of mostly young people took to the streets. According to the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung, rioters hurled Molotov cocktails, set garbage barricades alight, vandalized buses, and attacked police with stones and fireworks.
Police responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons, while firefighters working to extinguish blazes also had to be shielded from attacks.
Officials noted that many of the rioters had come from neighboring Geneva to join the clashes in Lausanne, a city where over 40 percent of the population is foreign-born.
Among those caught in the violence was Thibault Schaller, a city councillor for the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, who was assaulted by rioters before police intervened. Speaking to local press, Schaller described being punched, kicked, and called a “Nazi” before managing to escape with the help of officers.
The disturbances drew comparisons with the mass riots in France in 2023 following the death of a 17-year-old of Algerian descent who was shot during a police stop. At that time, unrest spilled across the French border into Switzerland, including Lausanne.
For Gambians, Marvin’s death is another reminder of the vulnerabilities faced by migrant youths abroad. While Switzerland has long been seen as a destination for stability and opportunity, the incident exposes underlying challenges of integration and the fragile relationship between migrant communities and European law enforcement.
As Lausanne begins to count the cost of the damage, Gambian families at home and abroad are left mourning a young life cut short in circumstances still clouded by questions.
