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Right wing win in Swiss expulsion vote
Source: Agencies |
November 29, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Most Swiss voting in a referendum have approved the easier expulsion of foreigners convicted of serious crimes such as murder, according to preliminary computer projections released yesterday on Swiss television.
In the latest sign of growing hostility to immigration, 53 percent of voters accepted a proposal to automatically deport foreigners convicted of crimes including rape or trafficking drugs.
The margin of error for the initial result was 3 percent, the polling group GFS Bern said, but computer projections are considered highly accurate. The referendum was officially held yesterday, but many Swiss voted earlier by postal ballot.
The initiative was put forward by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), which has played on rising fears about immigration in recent years to become the country's biggest political?movement.
Posters for the SVP's proposal show a group of white sheep kicking a black sheep off the Swiss flag. They first ran when the SVP was collecting signatures for the referendum.
"First the Muslims and minarets, now criminals," said Mohammed, a native of Lebanon who recently received his Swiss passport. "We're not all criminals."
Last year the Swiss backed a ban on the construction of new minarets.
Support is strong for the expulsion initiative, but critics said the plan could contravene international anti-discrimination treaties and the free movement of peoples under European Union law.
Switzerland is not an EU member but has accepted the bloc's code allowing EU citizens to take up residence without special permission.
Official figures show that foreigners - who make up more than a fifth of Switzerland's population of 7.7 million - are disproportionately charged with crimes.
In the latest sign of growing hostility to immigration, 53 percent of voters accepted a proposal to automatically deport foreigners convicted of crimes including rape or trafficking drugs.
The margin of error for the initial result was 3 percent, the polling group GFS Bern said, but computer projections are considered highly accurate. The referendum was officially held yesterday, but many Swiss voted earlier by postal ballot.
The initiative was put forward by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), which has played on rising fears about immigration in recent years to become the country's biggest political?movement.
Posters for the SVP's proposal show a group of white sheep kicking a black sheep off the Swiss flag. They first ran when the SVP was collecting signatures for the referendum.
"First the Muslims and minarets, now criminals," said Mohammed, a native of Lebanon who recently received his Swiss passport. "We're not all criminals."
Last year the Swiss backed a ban on the construction of new minarets.
Support is strong for the expulsion initiative, but critics said the plan could contravene international anti-discrimination treaties and the free movement of peoples under European Union law.
Switzerland is not an EU member but has accepted the bloc's code allowing EU citizens to take up residence without special permission.
Official figures show that foreigners - who make up more than a fifth of Switzerland's population of 7.7 million - are disproportionately charged with crimes.
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