The banning of minarets got me thinking about all the other things that are illegal in Switzerland.

This is not as wasteful a task as it might sound, seeing as last year the Swiss passed a law which stipulates that foreigners who are convicted of a serious crime - the definition of which eludes me but, according to the New York Times in Switzerland includes a broad scope of offences from rape, to over-claiming on your unemployment benefits - will now be automatically deported upon completion of their prison sentence.

This legislation is only the latest in a spate of efforts to minimise the amount of foreigners in Switzerland, which currently comprise around 23% of the country's 7.7 million inhabitants.

Despite the fact that without foreign workers, Switzerland would be unable to maintain the high levels of economic activity which make it such a prosperous, cheese-riddled country, there is a whole bunch of foreigner-hating going on here, led primarily by the Swiss People's Party (SVP), the artists of the infamous sheep posters.

The SVP relies on statistics which show that 70% of all prisoners in Switzerland are foreigners to justify their xenophobia. However, they fail to put this statistic in the context of Swiss laws which require, among other things, residency in the country for twelve years before allowing foreigners to become Swiss citizens. These statistics also must be read in the light of legal practices which generally perceive foreigners as presenting a greater flight risk and therefore necessitating incarceration with a greater frequency than citizens, and the discriminatory nature of most criminal justice systems, which are far more likely to convict "the other".

Anyway, in light of all this, I think it is somewhat important that we expats in Geneva educate ourselves about things that are and are not illegal in this country, and may or may not get us deported. Here are my top tips for no-goes in Switzerland -- unless of course you're looking for a free flight home.

Don't be flushing your live goldfish down the toilet. Swiss law stipulates that you must murder the fish before sending it to a watery grave.

It is illegal to do a bunch of things on a Sunday in Switzerland, which goes a long way towards explaining why it's so bloody quiet here on the weekend. Among the illicit behaviour are those public-endangering, risky tasks such as washing your car, mowing your lawn, and hanging your washing out to dry.

After 10pm at night is another danger zone, when apparently you can be fined for flushing the toilet or, if you're a man, urinating standing up.

Whatever you do, do NOT ski down a mountain while reciting poetry. Seriously, that's just reckless.

On the bright side, and bizarrely, you can do the following with no fear of being hassled by the authorities:

• Get around with your kit off
• Discriminate against employment candidates on the basis of gender, age or nationality
• Be or seek the services of a sex worker
• Euthanise someone or be euthanised
• Smoke pot
• Light a campfire in public

Geneve Girl is a twenty-something Australian who has come to Geneva by way of Berlin, London and Brisvegas. Painfully aware of the many obstacles one faces when moving to this quiet, expensive town, she has taken to the world of blogging to share her experiences and her thoughts on How to make it in Geneva.