Citizenship Figures Fuel Debate Ahead of Vote
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swissinfo.ch, May 23, 2008
A debate is raging over Switzerland’s naturalisation rate in the run-up to a nationwide ballot on citizenship procedures early next month.
Rightwingers argue no country in Europe approves more citizenship applications than Switzerland. But officials say the comparisons are misleading.
Over the past few weeks the rightwing Swiss People’s Party has been recycling arguments that proved successful four years ago when it challenged a proposal to facilitate the naturalisation of second- and third-generation foreigners in Switzerland.
A large-scale poster campaign shows hands grabbing the coveted red passports with the white cross.
The People’s Party wants to give voters the final say on applications, with no right of appeal for rejected candidates.
Official statistics seemingly support claims that Swiss papers are easy to acquire.
The number of foreign residents acquiring Swiss citizenship has been on the increase over the past decade. The figure rose from about 19,000 in 1997 to reach 46,000 in 2006, and level out at 45,042 last year.
The People’s Party says Switzerland is top of the list with 530 people out of 100,000 residents obtaining citizenship in 2002. Sweden in comparison had 490 naturalisations and France about 230.
Comparisons
However, according to the Federal Migration Office Switzerland is average in European comparison.
Its calculations are based on the total number of foreign residents—1.57 million in 2007. The migration office concludes that 2.8 per cent of that number obtained citizenship last year.
The authorities say Switzerland ranks far behind Sweden with a naturalisation rate of 8.2 per cent, Belgium (7.1 per cent), Britain (5.5 per cent) and France (4.8 per cent), but ahead of Germany with 1.6 per cent.
There is no doubt for Marcel Heiniger of the Federal Statistics Office that serious comparisons have to stand up to scientific scrutiny.
“Demographic comparisons have to relate to the segment of the population in question. In this particular case to the number of foreign residents,” he said.
Heiniger adds that from the point of view of a statistician it is not admissible to say that Switzerland has the highest naturalisation rate, as the People’s Party claims.
Marked increase
There are several reasons behind the increasing number of naturalisations in the past decade, according to the Federal Migration Office.
“The recognition of dual nationality for Italian citizens in 1992 had a big impact,” said spokesman Jonas Montani.
Numbering around 300,000, Italian citizens in Switzerland are one of the largest immigrant communities.
Similarly the number of Germans with a Swiss passport doubled as a result of an agreement with Berlin to allow dual citizenship in 2006, Montani added.
In another development, many of the 26 cantonal authorities have made it easier for second-and third-generation foreigners to take Swiss citizenship in the past few years, despite voters’ rejection of a nationwide regulation.
The number of potential candidates for a Swiss passport has been boosted further by a 30 per cent increase in the foreign community in Switzerland since 1991.
“Some 774,000 people are in theory eligible to apply for Swiss citizenship,” said Montani.
However, only a fraction are interested. It has been suggested that an accord with the EU granting access to the labour market is more important. Other foreign citizens might not be keen on obtaining Swiss papers because they would be forced to give up their original nationality.
What’s more, on average one in five applications is rejected, according to Montani.
NATURALISATION
Foreign residents must wait at least 12 years to be eligible to apply for naturalisation.
Foreigners married to Swiss nationals can take advantage of a simplified procedure, reducing the number of years they have to wait.
Successful applicants must show that they are integrated into Swiss society, comply with Swiss law and pose no threat to internal or external security.
The cantonal and local authorities are responsible for naturalisation procedures.
CONTEXT
Swiss citizenship can be obtained by birth (if at least one of the parents is Swiss), by marriage or by naturalisation.
Since 1992 Switzerland has also allowed dual nationality.
The principle of citizenship through descent is applied by many countries in Europe, including Germany and Austria.
The US, Canada and Australia are among countries applying the legal rule that citizenship is determined by a person’s place of birth.
France and Italy apply a mix of both systems.
KEY FACTS
Number of foreigners in Switzerland (2007): 1,570,965—accounting for 21% of the population.
Number of foreigners born in Switzerland: 17,206
Number of foreigners obtaining a Swiss passport: 45,042—or 2.8% of foreign citizens. Most of them came from Serbia, Italy, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
  Another Swiss poster. |
(Posted on May 29, 2008)
Comments
The reason that Germany’s citizenship figures are so low is because Germany is not
quite as stupid as this beautiful Canada in which I now live. There have 1000’s of refugees arriving here who stay just long enough to get a Canadian passport and go right back to the country they fled. You may remember the last Lebanon war, all
of a sudden some 50,000 “Canadian” citizens who were living there were screaming
to be rescued by Canada. A Saudi, living in Saudi Arabia, only remembers his Canadian
citizenship when in trouble with the law and then the whole community here protests
to the government for their lack of action. All those turks lining in Germany must renounce their Turkish citizenship when they get a German passport, the kids born there have to decide at the age of 21. If they do go back to Turkey and get their old
passport back, the lose the German one and must re-apply to enter the country.
Posted by ciccio at 6:50 PM on May 29
Now compare the rates with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, or United Arab Emirates.
It’s extremely difficult to find evidence of rich gulf oil-states allowing foreigners to obtain their citizenship, because they know they’re not obligated to grant it.
Posted by at 12:16 AM on May 30
Switzerland shouldn’t be admitting anyone from any country, nor should 21% of its population consist of foreigners.
Posted by Ronduck at 12:33 AM on May 30
As much as I detest the Muslim Kuwaiti men I think the U.S. should emulate the same citizenship procedures as Kuwait has, You simply CANNOT become a citizen and can be deported for ANYTHING and deportation from Kuwait is a truck ride to the nearest border and forced across it subject to being shot if caught in the country again.
Posted by Skip at 4:06 AM on May 30
There’s a mistake in the article, in Italy is applied the Ius sanguinus, with similar law than Switzerland, very different respect France and very very more strict.
Posted by Giovanni, Italian at 8:30 AM on May 30
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7427865.stm
An update on the story and a superb way of granting citizenship which the Swiss want to re-introduce.
Posted by cccio at 11:57 AM on May 31
That’s a good link from ccio. What we see happening in Switzerland, with judges banning secret ballots as “discriminatory”, is the same process that we have gone through in the USA with judges voiding the will of the people and presuming to make the laws of the land. The Swiss must not allow the same mistake. Good luck to them with their election today (Sunday).
Your country is your home. If I desire to come into your home, and you do not want me there, you have no obligation to give me any explanation, nor should I have any right to demand an appeal.
The Swiss Supreme Court outlawed secret ballots, ruling that they could be discriminatory. At the same time, the court ruled that those turned down for citizenship had the right to be given reasons for their rejection, and the right to appeal against the decision. The ruling brought a storm of protest. “I cannot accept that judges have the right to decide who gets to be a citizen,” says Luzi Stamm, of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP). “Citizenship is a political question. The Swiss population, Swiss society should decide - not lawyers and judges.”
Ugly campaign: The campaign has been heated. Normally tranquil Swiss political talk shows have descended into bitter shouting matches.
If “normally tranquil” Swiss politics has turned ugly, this shows that the rot, the invasive cancer, has now entered Switzerland. (We Americans have seen it all before.) Check back in twenty years. Check back in forty.
Posted by ghw at 3:16 AM on June 1
If “normally tranquil” Swiss politics has turned ugly, this shows that the rot, the invasive cancer, has now entered Switzerland.
—————————————————-
This immigration issue now has ALL the white countries in a tizzy. It’ is causing disruption and turmoil EVERYWHERE, and is going to become worse.
It threatens to become THE major issue of our time. Yet, in many countries it is all but forbidden to discuss it.
Nor do politicians even see it as an issue to be put on the ballot.
Posted by at 5:53 PM on June 1
I see from the latest news reports that the initiative has failed to pass.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iWxjeyFQBQf_1fXAaclLdbRFDN3w
Posted by ghw at 11:29 PM on June 1
“At the same time, the court ruled that those turned down for citizenship had the right to be given reasons for their rejection, and the right to appeal against the decision.”
………………………………………..
I don’t quite get it.
When you mark your ballot, do you have to give a reason for why you voted that way? And what if you have a variety of reasons, or complex reasons? Nobody is going to know why, unless you are required to hand in an accompanying essay (or fill out a questionnaire) explaining your vote. Many different citizens could have many different reasons. All they all going to be hauled into court to explain those reasons? How else could the court know their reasons for voting as they did? (Unless it merely speculates.)
Rather than the applicants having any automatic “right” to demand a reason, it seems outrageous to me that citizens should be required to explain their votes! That is their own business and nobody should have a right to question why. Nor should they have to explain.
There is a further, very dangerous legal principal being developed here that could grow to nightmarish proportions like some noxious weed. It is the notion that votes which are cast for certain “unacceptable” reasons are automatically invalid. (Who determines what is “unacceptable”?) Thus, for example, if you do you do not cast your vote for Obama, your vote could be disqualified because you appear to voting out of prejudice. This notion could get out of control!
Also, those applicants described in the article lived in a small Alpine town, not a large city, and had already been rejected four times (!) by their Swiss neighbors. They and their families had been living there for many years, even all their lives, and still they were turned down repeatedly. Their neighbors surely knew them and their families. These applicants went to school there, were raised there, worked there, and if their neighbors still didn’t want them - and rejected them repeatedly - there must have been a good reason for it.
The Swiss are not stupid; and these Swiss citizens were voting out of knowledge, not prejudice. The principal emerging here is that you cannot vote against someone if it’s because of his race. religion, or ethnicity. Those considerations are invalid. Eventually it will be expanded to include handicap, gender, sexual orientation ….etc., etc. Apparently, from now on, you can only vote “yes” in cases such as this or your vote will be nullified.
Let the Swiss take care to guard their precious freedoms lest they lose them! Truly, “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”. It is a fragile thing that is constantly under assault and can never be taken for granted.
The socialist bureaucrats in Brussels are eager to gobble them up and absorb Switzerland into the EU. They will nibble and nibble, and apply presure from without, until there is nothing left of their freedoms for the Swiss to protect.
As we Americans have already seen, and have learned all too well, the fanatical Marxists are organized, determined, and patient. They will work for years, decades, and even generations until they finally achieve their goals. The Swiss must never let down their guard.
Posted by ghw at 12:24 PM on June 2