Switzerland votes to restrict number of migrants

Photo: Nggalai

The Swiss referendum on Sunday night resulted in a narrow victory for the proposal to stop "mass migration" into the country, with 50.3 per cent voting in favour.

The move, proposed by the right-wing party Democratic Union of Centre, was not supported by the Swiss parliament or President and will see a ceiling introduced on all migrants from countries, including daily commuters travelling through to other countries from France, Italy and Germany and all other EU citizens.

The restrictions will go against the open borders treaty with Brussels, notes The Independent, which will require the renegotiation of economic agreements with the EU.

Indeed, in an interview with Reuters, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the vote would have "serious consequences" for relations between Switzerland and the Union's other 28 members.

"In terms of reciprocity, it's not appropriate that Swiss citizens have unrestricted freedom of movement in the European Union - I think there are 430,000 here, which in relative terms is more than the 1 million European citizens that are in Switzerland," he told the news agency.

"It's not fair that one country has all these advantages and does not want to give partners the same kind of advantages."