The Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which centered its campaign on anti-immigrant rhetoric, is projected to win 29 percent of the vote, up from 25.6 percent four years ago and higher than pre-election polls. It has been the country’s largest party since 2003.
Does Switzerland even have meaningful immigration to be concerned with banning it?
Isn’t this the country where communities vote on their neighbors’ citizenship applications?
20% of the population is immigrants. But the vast majority aren’t Muslim, so this party seems like it would be targeting Christians more than Muslims in actuality. Though I doubt they admit that to anyone.
Can you stop electing fascists please? It’s ruining my day.
“If you’re not Liberal, you’re a Fascist” Sincerely, Liberals.
You know, I’ve always been pro immigration, being a son of an immigrant myself, and these far right arguments against immigration haven’t been about immigration per se, but Muslim immigration, and after seeing the worlds left (to which I’ve belonged and voted for, without exception my entire adult life) turn into Islamic Terrorist Jew Killing supporters, I’m more inclined to give this “anti immigration” stance a hard look.
As in Israel, Muslims seek to murder and destroy, in the attempt to make anywhere that’s not like their own Islamofacist hellholes, exactly like all their other Islamofacist hellholes, and why import or allow that to imported into Egalitarian Secular Democracy so they can try their very best to make Jews less safe (to say nothing of Homosexuals) everywhere.
I think I’m going to start to be less of a rah rah supporter of immigration, and I thank the Left for that. When you’re chanting “Free Palestine” and the Jewish community who’ve voted lockstep Democratic in the United States is watching you, there will be far flung ramifications.
We’ve given the left our support, our lives in some cases like the southern freedom riders, our financial contributions, and our votes, far outpacing in percentage to any other American political block besides Black folks, for the last Hundred years.
Antisemitism gets people so worked up and turned on, the hate overwhelms their logical ability to determine truth from falsehood, even when it’s presented to them, they simply refuse to believe it, and that’s when the pogroms start, and when they’re ignore, or excused.
Who wants to import more of that? Anywhere?
Islam is only 5% of the population’s religious demographic. Considering around 20% of the country’s population is immigrant families, that means the majority of immigrants aren’t even Muslim. So this party is entirely about fearmongering.
As with any issue balance is the key. Being anti immigration is wrong, but also letting in anyone without strong stipulations is wrong as well.
As a lefty, the problem with the left, and the reason they are losing this issue, is because they want to be so PC that they won’t even allow discussion on the issue for fear of not looking ultra progressive to their friends.
If you want to immigrate into a country, you must 100% be aligned with the values of your new country. You can’t come in and demand that people respect your religious views if they are anti women or anti homosexuals or anti trans.
To many of my progressive brothers and sisters seem to be ok tolerating intolerance. If your religion demands that your wife walks behind you pushing the stroller with a burka on in 40 degree weather, while you get to walk around in shorts and flip-flops we’re going to have a problem.
you must 100% be aligned with the values of your new country.
Uh… no.
So what then? You go to a new country as a hardcore Muslim, and are allowed to treat women like shit? Is that fair to the citizens of that country? I mean, I remember that story in the US about that man who "honor killed’ his daughters, is that okay?
this is going to be an unpopular take but you’ve said a bunch of vaguely-sounding popular things but have missed the main issues with immigration.
Anyone who says they want to limit immigration for cultural reasons (e.g. I may wear a hat you don’t like, or speak a different language, or comb my hair in a different way) is lying.
“but so-and-so said…”
they were lying.
It boils down to this: if you can meet a (surprisingly low) wage in your new host country, you are a net benefit to that country and will be welcomed.
All that about burqas, treatment of women, LGBTQ+ rights is irrelevant. All that stuff about assimilating, or values, or tough restrictions is nonsense. Politicians say that stuff all the time. But it’s a lie. The truth is in the policy and the policy says: if you earn roughly USD$20k or local equivalent a year: welcome home!
Now people may think it should be different - but that I’d not the reality.
So, what are you suggesting? I mean, you sound like you’re just going with the same old “let everyone in, worry about it later…” rhetoric that many on the Left like to spew…
As we’ve seen repeatedly in the past decade, the Swiss has a major issue with racism on all fronts. It’s been pretty extreme.
And germanny with AFD, Austria with FPÖ, USA with MAGA and Republicans…
Swiss had a shift to the left for a while and now with Ukraine and Israel it’s right again.
Btw. are you rage baiting? You could be a twitter bot.
No? You can look at my comment history if you want. I just noticed that the Swiss have had multiple incidents of pretty blatant racism in the past few years, along with extreme xenophobia that wasn’t even just immigrant focused.
I work for a family from Sweden. They’re great people, very humble, very proud to be American and very proud of their Swedish roots. However, they recently went back to Sweden and were appalled by some of the stuff they experienced. They said they saw more “street gangs” roaming around, something you’d see like in Los Angeles. It’s something they’ve seen before, but it looks like it’s getting worse. This is something new to many Swedens…street gangs were almost unheard of a decade ago. My point is that a country has a right to implement strict immigration rules/laws if it means keeping their own people safe first.
You do realize that this article is about Switzerland and not Sweden right?
Yes, of course. I’m just giving an example of what could happen if a country isn’t careful…
