Swiss voters reject citizenship reform

VOTERS in Switzerland - where more than one-in-five residents are foreigners - rejected proposals to liberalise tough rules on citizenship in a national referendum yesterday.

In an outcome revealing the deep divide between the country’s French-speaking and more conservative German regions, two government-backed plans failed to win support in a majority of the Alpine country’s 26 cantons, or states.

With the count completed in most cantons, 13 were against and six in favour.

Under Swiss law, referendums need a majority of cantons and the popular vote to pass.

Projections by public broadcaster SRG-SSR, based on a partial count, showed 56% of voters were against plans to give citizenship to Swiss-born grandchildren of migrants, and a narrower 51% voted no in a separate poll on easing the rules for foreigners raised and schooled in the country.

“This is a sad day for Switzerland,” said Claudio Micheloni, head of a migrants’ integration association.

About two-thirds of Swiss people are German-speakers and stark political differences are common.

The citizenship referendum stoked bitter debate.

About 20% of the 7.2 million people living in Switzerland are foreigners - one of the highest proportions in Europe. This is partly because Swiss law makes citizenship relatively hard to obtain, with foreigners having to wait at least 12 years to qualify.