Swiss vote on capping number of foreign nationals

By Michael Mullane

BERNE, Switzerland -- The people of Switzerland are going to the polls this weekend to vote on a controversial proposal to reduce the number of foreign nationals living in the country to 18 percent of the population.

The government, business leaders and top brass of the main political parties have all urged voters to reject the initiative, saying a constitutionally enshrined cap on foreign nationals would harm the economy and damage Switzerland's image abroad.

However, the organisers of the people's initiative -- which was supported by more than 100,000 voter signatures and prominent members of the right-wing People's Party -- say they want to stem the flow of certain categories of foreign nationals and prevent the over-population of Switzerland.

Switzerland has proportionally the largest foreign population of any European country. Its 19 percent of foreign residents compares to nine percent in Germany, eight percent in Britain and two percent in Spain. However, it is also much harder to obtain citizenship in Switzerland than in most other European countries.

The 18 percent cap would lead to a new way of counting non-Swiss. It would include most categories of foreign residents but exclude highly qualified professionals, such as scientists, IT experts and senior managers. Students and artists would also be left out of the final tally.

Asylum seekers, people forced from their homes through conflict and those taken in for humanitarian reasons would be included in the 18 percent quota if they remained in Switzerland for more than a year.

The Swiss President, Adolf Ogi, has come out strongly against the so-called 18 percent initiative.

"We live from foreigners. We need labourers for tourism and we need intelligent people in Switzerland," he said, referring to the fact that one in every three people employed in the key hotel and restaurant industry is non-Swiss.

The clothing and engineering industries, health care and service sectors also rely heavily on importer labour.

The justice minister, Ruth Metzler, told a news conference in Berne last month that the 18 percent cap would be "detrimental to Switzerland and all its people." The economics minister, Pascal Couchepin, said it was "absurd" to place an "arbitrary" quota on alien residents.

The government also fears a vote in favour would not only call into question key bilateral accords with the European Union -- which allow for the free movement of people -- but also scupper its declared long-term plans to join the EU.

This weekend's vote is not the first time that the Swiss are called to vote on the foreign nationals issue: Since 1970, six similar moves to curb the level of non-Swiss have all failed at the ballot box, and opinion polls suggest the vote on Sunday will go the same way.

Swissinfo vote coverage
Swiss parliament website

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