Citizenship reform rejected
Plans to relax Switzerland’s strict citizenship laws have been turned down by voters. The proposal, which was aiming to ease naturalisation for foreigners brought up and educated in the country, was defeated after 56.8 per cent of voters opposed it. Another proposal would have granted automatic citizenship to the grandchildren of immigrants, but that also failed, with 51.6 per cent voting against it.
The government said it wanted to make procedures easier, as too many people were left out of the country’s system of direct democracy. However, these results demonstrate that being born in Switzerland will continue to be no guarantee of citizenship.
