Swiss Reject Proposed Immigration Cap, Partial Results Suggest

A ballot box is emptied at a voting center in Zurich, Switzerland, 30 November 2014. Partial results suggest a clear majority of Swiss voters have decided against a proposal put to a referendum to sharply limit immigration. Photo EPA/BGNES

Swiss voters appear to have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to sharply cut immigration growth.

According to partial results from most of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, about 74% of voters have voted “No” in the referendum forced by the country’s Ecopop movement which seeks to link environment protection with control over population growth.

The voters were asked whether they supported Ecopop’s initiative to cap the number of immigrants at 0.2% of the resident population, which, if approved, could have threatened Switzerland's relationship with the EU.

The Swiss also voted on Sunday in two other referendums: one on forcing the central bank to increase its gold reserves and one on scrapping a law allowing Swiss residents who work outside the country to pay tax on their spending rather than their income.

Partial results suggest those two proposals have also failed to draw enough support to be written into law.

 

 

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