Migration crisisSwiss voters reject automatic deportation of foreigners who committed crimes

With a turnout of more than 62 percent, higher than for any other Swiss referendum since 1992, Swiss voters on Saturday rejected a proposal automatically to deport foreigners found guilty of committing crimes.

The final tally showed that 58.9 percent of voters opposed the proposal.

The Telegraph reports that the proposal had been put forward by the anti-immigration Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which is the largest single party in the country’s Federal Assembly.

Six years ago, in another referendum, Swiss voters had agreed to a proposal to expel foreigners who commit offenses such as rape or armed robbery after serving their jail term. Since that vote, however, the initial law was weakened, allowing judges to block automatic deportation at their discretion.

The extended plan, which was rejected on Saturday, would have automatically expelled individuals for lesser offenses, such as traffic violations, if it was the second violation they had committed within a 10-year time period.

Both human rights activists and business leaders energetically campaigned against the expanded measure, arguing it would violate human rights and complicate relations with the EU.

About a quarter of the people living in Switzerland have a foreign passport, with the majority coming from European countries. Experts said that if voters approved the new measure, it would have led to the immediate expulsion of about 10,000 people.

The Telegraph notes that while opponents argued that the initiative sought to circumvent the courts by turning deportations of foreigners into an administrative formality, supporters of the measure campaigned behind the