Thread: Swiss to Vote on Plan to Limit Immigration

Swiss to Vote on Plan to Limit Immigration

GENEVA February 7, 2014 (AP)


Swiss voters are being asked to decide on a proposal to cap immigration to the Alpine republic, a long-standing demand of the country's most powerful party.

If the measure is approved in a referendum Sunday, the government would have to renegotiate painstakingly forged treaties with the European Union on the free movement of workers. It could also put Switzerland — which prides itself on a long humanitarian tradition — at odds with international accords on asylum.

Opinion polls show growing support for the plan, which would impose an absolute limit on the number of foreigners who can move to Switzerland each year.

Some 43 percent of people surveyed on Jan. 21 backed the proposal by the nationalist Swiss People's Party, with 50 percent opposed and 7 percent undecided. A month earlier only 37 percent were in favor, with 55 percent against and 8 percent undecided.

"The outcome is difficult to predict this time, especially if voter participation increases further," said Claude Longchamp, head of polling organization gfs.bern that conducted the survey of 1,420 voters. The poll had a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.

Although Swiss voters have in the past approved various measures loosening immigration rules, pundits have been wary of predicting which way referendums on the issue will go since being caught by surprise in 2009 when voters approved a plan to ban the construction of new minarets.

The People's Party, which has over a quarter of the seats in Switzerland's lower house, has stoked fears of mass immigration in recent weeks. Posters have sprung up around the country showing a huge tree crushing a map of Switzerland. Another depicts a heavily veiled woman beneath the headline "1 million Muslims soon?"

According to official figures about 500,000 people in the nation of 8 million identified themselves as Muslim. Many of them are former refugees who fled to Switzerland during the Balkan wars in the 1990s. Only a minority are actively religious.

The Swiss government has warned that the referendum could harm Switzerland's economy and its relationship with its EU neighbors. Switzerland isn't a member of the 28-nation bloc but has signed numerous bilateral cooperation agreements with Brussels including one that ensures EU citizens can live and work in Switzerland, while Swiss citizens can do the same in the EU.

Two years ago Switzerland introduced quotas for immigrants from eight central and eastern European nations, a move that was heavily criticized by the EU.

The new proposal would go further, extending such quotas to immigrants from Western Europe and introduce limits on all foreigners' rights to bring in family members or access Swiss social services.

Switzerland's distinct system of popular democracy means voters are regularly asked to decide on new laws. The outcome of a referendum is binding.

On Sunday, voters will also decide on a range of other national and local proposals, including a plan by conservative groups to remove abortion from the list of treatments covered by standard health insurance.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ation-22407849

Swiss first in this magnificent country,...

9 February 2014 Last updated at 11:17 ET

Swiss immigration: About 50.5% back quotas


A coalition led by the Swiss People's Party wants to bring back quotas on immigration

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With almost all votes counted, a Swiss referendum on whether to bring back strict immigration quotas appears to have passed by a narrow margin.

About 50.5% voted in favour of measures which would end the Swiss-EU free movement of people agreement.

Fiercely independent Switzerland is not a member of the EU, but has adopted large sections of EU policy.

Brussels has already warned the Swiss that they cannot just choose the aspects they like.
A Yes vote of more than 50% is needed for the referendum to pass.

The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says the vote has shown up traditional divisions, with French-speaking areas against the quotas, German-speaking regions divided, and the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino firmly in favour.

A Yes vote means Swiss ministers will have some tricky explaining to do in Brussels, our correspondent says.

'Huge mistake'The vote comes amid increasing debate across Europe about migration and the impact of free movement of people.

Switzerland's economy is booming at the moment, and unemployment is low, but many Swiss worry about immigration.

A quarter of the eight million-strong population is foreign, and last year 80,000 new immigrants arrived.

Since 2007, most of the EU's 500 million residents have been on an equal footing with locals in the Swiss job market - the result of a policy voted into law in a 2000 referendum.

But a coalition led by the right-wing Swiss People's Party now wants to reverse this deal, saying it was a huge mistake.


There are many people in Switzerland who believe mass immigration is harming the country


Those in favour of mass migration says the policy will benefit the Swiss economy


The referendum will be keenly watched by other European nations debating their immigration policy

Switzerland in numbers

• Population: 8 million
• Foreign population 23%
• Swiss citizens with immigrant background 12%
• 80,000 immigrants in 2013
• Unemployment rate 3.2% (EU 10.9%)

Supporters of quotas believe free movement has put pressure on housing, health, education, and transport. They also argue that foreign workers drive salaries down.

But the Swiss government and business leaders say free movement is key to Switzerland's economic success, allowing employers to choose skilled staff from across Europe.
Switzerland's bilateral agreements with the EU took years of negotiation to achieve.

Our correspondent says that abandoning free movement could limit Switzerland's access to Europe's single market, where over half its exports are sold.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26108597

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