28 March 2012
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Switzerland
Voters narrowly
reject asylum curbs
In a referendum on Sunday 24 November
Swiss voters rejected a demand that would have led to the expulsion
of refugees arriving via any persecution-free country - in practice,
all of Switzerland's neighbors. To be successful in a referendum
the proposal has to be backed by a majority on cantons - which
it was - and by a majority of voters. A very slim majority of
voters - just 3,422 - meant the proposal was defeated. The proposal
was opposed by 50.1 percent of voters, or 1,122,874 people and
was backed by 49.9 percent, or 1,119,452. The turnout was 46.7
percent.
In the country's 26 cantons the majority were in favour, all in the German-speaking part of the country. The most populous state - Zurich - voted narrowly in favor with 50.6 percent, while the French-speaking state of Geneva came out most forcefully against the restrictions, with 61.4 percent.
see: Swiss
referendum on total rejection of refugees
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