Bern, Switzerland
Swiss voters this week rejected a proposal to grant automatic citizenship to the grandchildren of immigrants. Even people who were born in Switzerland and whose parents were born there are ineligible for citizenship unless they go through a cumbersome application process. “We don’t want Switzerland to be a doorway for all and sundry,” said Maria Angela Guyot of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party. Switzerland earlier dropped a requirement that applicants for citizenship have their homes inspected to see whether they conformed to Swiss standards of cleanliness, but the application is still lengthy and complicated. One in five Swiss residents is not a citizen; most of those are immigrants from Italy or the countries of the former Yugoslavia.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Quiz of The Week: 15 – 21 NovemberQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
Can the UK do more on climate change?Today's Big Question Labour has shown leadership in the face of fraying international consensus, but must show the public their green mission is ‘a net benefit, not a net cost’
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will US Catholics rebel against the Pope?Podcast Plus what are the ethics of freezing your late partner?
