Swiss pass referendum limiting immigration

(Vatican Radio) Voters in Switzerland have narrowly approved a proposal to limit immigration in their country and a return of strict quotas. Some 50.3 percent of voters supported the anti-immigration measure in Sunday's binding referendum, which was put forward by the right wing Swiss People’s Party.


Switzerland already had quotas for people from Eastern Europe, including member states of the European Union. Under the now accepted proposal, citizens form Western member states will be targeted as well. The outcome of the referendum will force the Swiss government to negotiate within three years a deal with Brussels that since 2007 has given most EU citizens free access to the Alpine country's labour market. The populists say that with 80,000 EU citizens arriving each year – rather than the 8,000 predicted before the rules were liberalised – it is time to rein in immigration.

JOY SHOUTS

There were shouts of joy when supporters of the Swiss People’s Party welcomed the results. But the government expressed concern.


“It is a vote against the political authorities. The Federal government and most of the Cantons were against this initiative,” Swiss Federal Council member, Simonetta Sommaruga, said.


“It is a vote against the business community, and the organizations which represent it – all of which were against the initiative. And finally it’s against the political parties. A lot of them now must be wondering why so many of their supporters haven’t followed them – or only partly – on such essential issues,” she added.


DIVIDED PEOPLE

Yet the referendum also underscored sharp divisions as expressed by people on the streets. "There are to many workers," a man said. "There are not so many jobs."

At least one woman disagrees. She said "it's not possible to close" the borders. "We live in one world and we can't close-off ourselves from the rest of the world."



The European Commission agrees and expressed disappointment over the referendum results in the non-EU member state. Analysts say the referendum could result in European counter-measures, impacting Swiss exports to the EU.


Listen to the report by correspondent Stefan Bos: