Swiss voters reject deportation proposal
Print Edition
SWISS voters were seen rejecting a proposal to deport foreign law-breakers in a referendum yesterday, according to projections from Swiss broadcaster SRF.
The plan to expel foreign residents guilty of anything from murder to speeding was proposed by the anti-immigration Swiss People’s Party, the country’s largest political movement with about a third of its parliamentary seats. But it faced opposition from activists and business leaders who said it would violate human rights and complicate relations with Switzerland’s main trade partner the European Union.
Projections from exit polls suggested that 59 percent of voters would oppose the automatic deportations, SRF said soon after voting stopped. The SVP, which has risen on a wave of anti-foreigner sentiment, collected the 100,000 signatures needed to start the referendum under Switzerland’s system of direct democracy.
Under the plans, foreigners would have been deported after completing sentences for serious crimes like murder, rape and armed robbery, or for two lesser offences committed within a 10-year span such as speeding or burglary.
The SVP campaigned for the motion with posters showing a white sheep kicking a black sheep out of Switzerland.
Activists countered by putting up posters depicting the cross on the Swiss flag as a swastika.
Opponents argued that the move would violate the European Convention on Human Rights.
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