A/HRC/4/19/Add.2 page 10 29. With regard to the revision of the law on foreigners, the Special Rapporteur has taken note of the position of opponents to the amendment who have criticized the discriminatory treatment of foreigners who do not belong to a European country, the toughening of the rules on family reunification with regard to foreigners of non-European origin, the obligation to live together (and the possible effects on women of non-European origin) or the proliferation of measures making it possible to place foreigners who refuse to leave Switzerland in detention for up to two years. 30. The two issues obtained a majority in all cantons.13 II. ANALYSIS OF THE SITUATION BY THE AUTHORITIES 31. The Swiss Government recently submitted the fourth, fifth and sixth periodic reports of Switzerland to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. These reports contain a detailed description of the various problems relating to migration policy, as well as police violence and other issues, for example, the question of the status of the Travellers. 32. As the Federal Council pointed out in a decision of 23 February 2005, the fight against racism is a cross-cutting task for which all offices of the Confederation are responsible. Several federal departments deal with matters that are directly or indirectly linked to the subject of racism and xenophobia. In addition to the specialized service to combat racism, the Federal Department of the Interior includes the Federal Office for Cultural Affairs, which is responsible for the Travellers,14 and the Federal Office for Equality between Women and Men whose mandate, which derives from the article on equality in the Federal Constitution and equality legislation, is to combat all forms of sex-based discrimination, direct or indirect. The Department of Justice and Police includes, inter alia, the Federal Office for Migration,15 which deals with questions relating to the right of foreigners and the right of asylum, and the Federal Police, which deals with all violent forms of extremism, including rightist extremism, as a threat to the State. At the federal and cantonal levels, various federal departments have units or focal points that deal with questions of discrimination and produce information materials for foreigners and migrants. The Directorate for Public International Law of the Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for preparing periodic reports under article 9 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. 13 See, for example, http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/fr/index/themen/17/03/ blank/key/2006/02.html. 14 15 There are two Traveller communities in Switzerland: the Jenisch and the Roma-Sinti. Established on 1 January 2005, the Federal Office for Migration is the result of the merger of the Federal Office for Refugees and the Federal Office for Immigration, Integration and Emigration.