By David Furness
About 60% of eligible voters took part in the referendum. Of those, almost 55% voted against the proposal, and 45% supported it. Overall, 33% of all eligible voters opposed the measure, 27% supported it, and 40% did not vote.
The proposal would have required the Swiss government to cap the population, currently estimated at 9.1 million, at 10 million by 2050.
The plan stated that strict limits on family reunification, residency permits, and asylum applications would take effect if the population reached 9.5 million before 2050.
If the population exceeded 10 million before 2050, the Swiss government would have had to leave the free movement agreement with the European Union, thereby ending access to the EU single market.
The Swiss People’s Party (SVP; German: Schweizerische Volkspartei), a populist party holding the largest number of seats in the Swiss parliament, initiated the proposal.
The Far Left are happy with the NO vote. With a population of about 9.1 million and 60% turnout, around 5.5 million people voted. About 3 million voted NO and 2.5 million voted YES. So, about 33% of the population voted NO, while the rest either voted YES or did not vote, possibly because they were undecided.
Switzerland is not part of the European Union, but it is closely connected to the EU through many agreements, including access to the EU single market through 140 treaties.
Switzerland is also a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and participates in the Schengen Area, which permits the free movement of people between Switzerland and EU member states.
It was the fear that Switzerland’s agreements with the EU would have ended that prompted many to vote NO. However, as we have seen recently, having open borders can lead to dire consequences. A Sudanese national has been charged with attempted murder after travelling to France and then Ireland. He then took a bus to Northern Ireland without any border checks before claiming asylum. He was then granted leave to remain in the UK by the Home Office. The details of the attempted murder are too horrific to mention.
Crimes like this and the ongoing grooming gang crimes are becoming more frequent.
Many opponents of the proposal said that Switzerland needs foreign workers because more people are retiring than joining the workforce. They believe that limiting immigration would hurt the economy. This is often seen as necessitating the employment of foreign workers in low-wage jobs.
Instead of raising wages for these jobs, some European countries choose to bring in many foreign workers from different cultural backgrounds. Even though these foreigners are working, many are claiming government benefits such as Housing Benefit and Income Support, adding pressure on schools, housing, health services and government finances.
Supporters of the YES vote estimate that a NO outcome could lead to an increase of 80,000 to 100,000 people from different cultural backgrounds, which they believe could affect the quality of life in Switzerland.
A spokesperson for the SVP stated that, at present, many of those NO voters are not yet significantly affected by immigration in their daily lives. He further emphasised that the SVP seeks to preserve Switzerland’s high quality of life.
This case illustrates the difference in European thinking about mass immigration. Those who want mass immigration say it is necessary because “Europe needs millions of foreigners to do the low-paid and low-skilled jobs, otherwise we will be poorer economically.” However, they assume that those foreigners will have the same cultural norms as the host nation. As we have seen in recent years, and especially in recent weeks (the murder of Henry Nowak and the attempted murder in Belfast), that assumption is not only wrong but also very dangerous.
The British Democrats remain fully committed to our policy of stopping migrants settling here. By withdrawing from various international conventions and treaties, including the UN 1951 Refugee Convention, we will prevent them from claiming asylum. Furthermore, we will implement a robust remigration programme to ensure the indigenous British people remain an overwhelming majority in our ancient and native islands.
Follow us and share our content on these social media platforms using the links below:
X (formerly known as Twitter): @BritishDems
Promoted by the British Democrats, PO Box 11028, Loughborough, LE12 7YL.
No Comments