Swiss voters approve harsher deportation plan

Deutsche Welle 11/28/2010 18:09

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Posters for the Swiss People's Party have been controversial

Switzerland has approved a plan to automatically deport foreigners convicted of serious crimes. The proposal, put forth by the nationalist Swiss People’s Party, has been criticized by human rights groups.

Swiss voters have approved a far-right initiative to automatically expel foreign residents convicted of serious crimes, according to poll results.

Swiss national broadcaster SF1 said 52.9 percent of voters backed the initiative in Sunday's referendum, a plan proposed by the nationalist Swiss People's Party (SVP).

A counter-proposal put forth by the Swiss government, which would make expulsion dependent on the length of a prison term rather on an arbitrary list of offenses, appears to have been rejected by most voters, according to preliminary results. Currently, decisions to expel foreigners convicted of serious crimes are made on a case-by-case basis.

The initiative, which would apply to foreigners convicted of crimes like murder, rape or trafficking in drugs or people, has been criticized by human rights groups and legal experts, who said it could disregard international anti-discrimination treaties and the free movement of peoples under European Union law.

Switzerland, while not an EU member, does allow EU citizens to take residence without special permission.

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