Swiss to vote on expelling convicted foreigners

SWITZERLAND looks set to approve the easier expulsion of foreigners who have committed crimes in a referendum on Sunday, the latest sign of growing hostility to immigration in the Alpine state.
Voters are likely to back the automatic deportation of foreigners who have been found guilty of murder, rape and trafficking in drugs or people and other serious offences, with 54 per cent in favour according to a GFS Bern poll.
The initiative was put forward by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which has played on rising fear about immigration in recent years to become the country’s biggest political force.
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.
“We have been sweeping this problem under the carpet for 15 years, largely out of political correctness. But people are not ready to do this any more,” said Alard du Bois-Reymond, who heads the federal immigration bureau. “There is a lot of fear out there, as the vote on minarets showed.”
Last year the Swiss backed a ban on construction of new minarets, drawing international condemnation.
Also on the ballot will be a proposal by the centre-left Social Democrats (SP) to levy a minimum tax of 22 per cent on income above 250,000 Swiss francs ($251,200).
The scheme would set a minimum income tax that cantons (states) must impose on the rich. Currently tax rates vary among cantons, attracting companies and wealthy people to places like Zug, but nevertheless are low compared to elsewhere in Europe.
The SP hopes the proposal will tap into public anger over the financial crisis and bankers’ pay, but support has waned in recent weeks as Swiss business has lobbied hard against the proposal, warning of an exodus of the rich and their companies.
The tax initiative is backed by 46 per cent of voters, last week’s poll showed – down from 58 per cent last month – while 39 per cent were against and 15 per cent undecided.
Support has remained strong for the expulsion initiative even though critics say it could contravene international anti-discrimination treaties and the free movement of peoples under European Union law.
Switzerland, although not an EU member, 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. Under current law, foreigners who commit serious crimes can be expelled, but decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.
Concerned that the proposal could strain relations with the EU, the government has put forward a counterproposal to make expulsion based on the length of a prison term rather than on an arbitrary list of offences.

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