December 4, 2002

Switzerland's churches have expressed relief after voters rejected, by a tiny margin, a proposal that would have made the country's asylum laws the "most restrictive" in Europe, automatically turning back anyone seeking asylum from another country that was deemed safe. It was defeated in a referendum November 24 by just over 3,000 votes out of a total of 2.24 million.

"Despite the close result, our country must continue to be guided by solidarity in thought and deed with human beings who are fleeing situations of crisis," said that council of the Swiss Protestant Church Federation in a statement. The council said that although "the state has the duty to protect itself against abuses of the right to asylum," the existing policies were "by and large sufficient."

Switzerland's Conference of Roman Catholic Bishops also welcome defeat of the proposal, saying in a statement that "common sense has prevailed." Underscoring the close vote, the statement added, "Switzerland, which is one of the richest countries in the world, must continue to be one of the most generous. It is a question of conscience."

The proposal, launched by the right-wing populist Swiss People's Party, was opposed by all the main political parties, the government and parliament, as well as the churches. The Swiss parliament will vote soon on a revision of the country's asylum laws and, as a local newspaper pointed out, the "close result will not encourage the parliament to show an excess of compassion toward asylum-seekers."

The Swiss cantons where the population speaks French or Italian rejected the proposal while support was strongest in the German-speaking heartland.

Episcopal News Service