Switzerland Votes in Referendum on Immigration Quotas

 

The Swiss are voting in a referendum on Sunday Nov 30,2014 on measures aimed at severely restricting immigration.

The ballot marks the second time this year that the non-EU country has held a referendum on immigration.

Last February voters narrowly backed the reintroduction of quotas, effectively opting out of a free movement agreement with Brussels.

The new proposal, known as Ecopop, goes much further, limiting net immigration to just 0.2% of the overall population.

ECOPOP 

 Environmentalist group Ecopop launched the "Stop overpopulation - safeguard our natural resources" initiative.
 It proposes capping the number of immigrants at just 0.2 percent of the resident population or the equivalent of 16,000 people per year.
 Supporters say a lack of living space exerts too much pressure on the land and natural resources in landlocked Switzerland, tapping into a growing concern about overcrowding among its residents, who are frustrated by rising rents and crowded public transport.
Opponents, including the Swiss government, say the campaign would have disastrous consequences for the Swiss economy, which is heavily reliant on foreign workers.
 The latest poll shows 39 percent of the population support the initiative, 56 percent are against it, and 5 percent are undecided.

Switzerland's population is just 8.2 million - but that is still more than a million more than it was 20 years ago.

• Switzerland's population is about 8.18 million - of whom 1.96 million are not Swiss nationals, according to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office(FSO) 
• EU citizens make up the vast majority of immigrants in Switzerland
• The largest group of foreign nationals living in Switzerland is from Italy; immigration from Italy started more than a century ago, but difficulties getting Swiss nationality meant many families remained Italian
• The second largest group comes from Germany, and the third largest comes from the former Yugoslavia

Swiss voters 'reject bid to set limits on immigration' in national referendum 

Swiss voters have overwhelmingly rejected plans to drastically limit immigration, according to early results from a nationwide referendum.

The proposal to limit immigration to 0.2 per cent of Switzerland's population was opposed by 74 per cent of voters and supported by 26 per cent, according to Swiss pollsters gfs.bern.

The plan, which would have torn up freedom of movement agreements with the EU, would have slashed migration by about 16,000 immigrants a year. 

Currently, immigration is estimated at around 80,000 a year.