Civil rights
After 5 years for a Swiss passport: naturalization initiative comes about – despite difficulties in collecting
Should the hurdles for the red pass be lowered? Thanks to a final spurt in collecting signatures, the Swiss people can now answer this question.
The current rule is: After ten years of residence in Switzerland, foreigners can apply for naturalization.
Bild: Christian Beutler/Keystone
For a long time it looked like a tough game. At the end of July, almost four months before the end of the collection deadline, the Action Four Quarters only 90,000 signatures together. But in the last three months, the broad civil society alliance has made a special effort and collected 45,000 signatures. This brings about the initiative for a “modern civil rights” with 135,000 signatures, as Aktion Vierviertel announced on Tuesday.
The initiators emphasize that not a single signature was contributed by paid collectors. However, the signature scandal has made work on the street more difficult.
With the referendum, Aktion Vierviertel wants to eliminate a democratic deficit in Switzerland. In their eyes, the point is that foreigners are not allowed to have a say in politics. About a quarter of the permanent resident population are non-Swiss.
Foreigners will now be entitled to the red passport after five years of legal residence in Switzerland. This would also apply to temporarily admitted refugees. Further requirements according to the initiative text are: You must not endanger the external or internal security of the country, you must not have been sentenced to a long-term prison sentence and you must have basic knowledge of a national language.
Currently the requirements are much higher. You can only submit an application after ten years of residence, and better language skills are also required. The initiators criticize the naturalization law as one of the most restrictive in Europe. The referendum is supported by, among others, the SP, the Greens, Operation Libero and numerous cultural workers.