Swiss Reject Strict Immigration Limits | WPN World People News

Swiss voters have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to impose radical limits on immigration, a referendum opponents have labelled xenophobic and disastrous for the economy.

Initial results showed 73 percent of voters saying "no" to the so-called Ecopop initiative. The proposal would have capped immigration growth at 0.2 percent of the population, or an addition of 16,000 people annually instead of the current rate of roughly 80,000 per year. It also called for Switzerland to use 10 percent of its international development aid budget for family planning programs abroad, a move critics say smacks of "neocolonialism."

Supporters of the proposed legislation say the current influx of foreigners is swelling the Alpine nation's population and shrinking its idyllic landscapes and green spaces.

Sunday's vote is the second time this year Switzerland has staged an immigration referendum. In February, the approval of an initiative demanding quotas for immigration from the European Union called into question non-member Switzerland's commitment to the free movement of people principle on which the country's economic ties with the EU are based.

Gold reserve issue

Meanwhile a second vote calling for the Swiss central bank to boost its gold reserves was opposed by 78 percent of voters. A third referendum that would scrap one of Switzerland's biggest tax perks for wealthy expatriates was also defeated.

Switzerland's system of direct democracy gives citizens the right to force popular votes, if they can gather enough signatures of support.

Source: Voice of America