Citizenship figures fuel debate ahead of vote
A debate is raging over Switzerland’s naturalisation rate in the run-up to a nationwide ballot on http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=1767 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 http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3454 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 http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=3755 wants to give voters the final say on applications, with no right of appeal for rejected candidates.
Official statistics seemingly support claims that http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=1987 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.
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.