Swiss approve new citizenship rules in defeat for anti-Muslim camp

GENEVA: Swiss voters on Sunday approved a measure to make it easier for third-generation immigrants to become citizens, in a defeat for rightwing nationalists who had raised fears about giving passports to more Muslims.
The RTS public broadcaster and national news agency ATS said the “Yes” camp had fulfilled both criteria needed for a win by securing a majority of total votes and a majority of Switzerland’s 26 cantons.
The government as well as most lawmakers and political parties supported the proposal.
According to a study, less than 25,000 people in the country of about 8 million currently qualify as third-generation immigrants, meaning they have at least one grandparent who was born here or acquired Swiss residency.
Nearly 60 percent of that group are Italians, followed by those with origins in the Balkans and Turkish nationals.
Debate on the proposal had nothing to do with religion at the outset, said Sophie Guignard of the Institute of Political Science at the University of Bern.
It was the SVP, an anti-Islam party, that focused on the risks of more Muslims becoming citizens and the possible “loss of Swiss values,” Guignard told AFP.
Polls closed at midday and most in the wealthy Alpine nation had already voted by mail.
Eight cantons including major population centers like Geneva, Zurich and Basel voted to approve the measure.
A change to citizenship laws requires a constitutional amendment, meaning the “Yes” side needs to win both a majority of votes and a majority of Switzerland’s 26 cantons.
Sunday’s referendum is one of four each year for voting on subjects affecting federal as well as local laws and institutions.
The “No” camp faced heavy criticism over a widely-distributed poster urging voters to reject “uncontrolled citizenship.”
It was commissioned by the Committee Against Facilitated Citizenship, which has several SVP members including in leadership positions.
The co-chair of that committee and an SVP lawmaker, Jean-Luc Addor, urged people to vote against the measure on grounds that one day most third-generation immigrants will not be of European origin.
Political initiatives that either directly or implicitly target Muslims may be on the rise in the West, notably including US President Donald Trump’s travel ban against seven mainly Muslim countries, which was undone in court this week.
But in Switzerland such moves are nothing new.