Switzerland's local authorities have introduced draconian restrictions which ban asylum-seekers from frequenting public places such as school playgrounds, swimming pools and libraries in a move angrily denounced by human rights groups as intolerable and racist. In the town of Bremgarten west of Zurich, where a new centre for asylum-seekers opened last month, officials said refugees would not be allowed to "loiter" in school playgrounds and would be banned from visiting public swimming pools, playing fields and a church. A total of 32 "exclusion zones" have been drawn up. Mario Gattiker, the head of Switzerland's Federal Office of Immigration which endorsed the apartheid-style restrictions, justified the move to journalists saying: 'We need rules to ensure a peaceful and orderly coexistence of residents and asylum-seekers.' (Indpendent, 07/08/13)