Swiss vote ‘no’ to automatic expulsion of foreign criminals

GENEVA: Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a proposal to automatically deport foreign criminals for even minor offences, referendum results showed.

The poll came at a time when many European countries are hardening their attitudes to migrants after more than a million arrived on the continent’s shores last year.

Under Swiss law, voters can change a law by popular ballot.

To be passed it must be approved by a majority of cantons as well as a majority of electors.

According to the final results Sunday evening, the proposal to “automatically deport foreign criminals” was rejected by 58.9 per cent of voters.

In a referendum six years ago, more than half of Swiss voters backed strengthening rules to automatically expel foreign nationals convicted of violent or sexual crimes.

The populist right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) – which has accused parliament of dragging its feet on writing the text into law and watering it down when it did so last March – proposed tougher rules which were put to the people in Sunday’s referendum.

Known for its virulent campaigns against immigration, the European Union and Islam, the SVP had called for “real deportation of criminal foreigners”.

But the initiative faced stiff opposition, including from the government, parliament and all the other major political parties, which said it circumvented fundamental rules of democracy. — AFP