Swiss vote on capping migration

Swiss voters will decide on Sunday whether to introduce severe immigration cuts, in a poll conducted in the name of saving the environment, but which opponents have labeled xenophobic.

The so-called Ecopop campaign wants to cap immigration growth at 0.2 percent, or an addition of around 16,000 people annually - a cut of about three quarters from current levels. Statistics show foreign nationals make up a quarter of Switzerland's eight million inhabitants.

Ecopop maintains that current immigration levels are putting the Swiss environment under strain, shrinking idyllic landscapes and swelling the population. The association says immigration is adding 1.1-1.4 percent annually to the population of Switzerland, putting it on track to reach 12 million people by 2050.

But the campain has been rejected by the government, all political parties, employers and unions, and polls indicate it is likely to fail.

"It aims to drastically, linearly and arbitrarily reduce immigration to Switzerland, with absolutely no consideration for the needs of the economy," said Christian Lüscher, a parliamentarian for the Liberal Party, adding that such a cap would "impoverish our country."

The poll follows the February approval of an initiative demanding quotas for immigration from the EU - putting the bloc's relations with non-member Switzerland in turmoil.

A second vote will take place on whether to scrap special tax breaks for expatriates living but not working in Switzerland, who can choose to be levied on their spending rather than their income.

Polls indicate that this proposal, which would represent a potential blow to Switzerland's reputation as a tax haven, will also be rejected . Left parties and unions back the initiative, but opponents, such as Lüscher, warn that many rich foreigners will leave if they face higher taxes.

"You'd have to be completely crazy to wave goodbye to this godsend to our economy," Lüscher told news agency AFP.

The final choice for voters will be whether to force the central bank to boost its gold reserves. If the proposal were passed, the Swiss National Bank would need to increase its gold reserves to at least 20 percent of its holdings - a significant increase at today's level of seven percent - and the bank would be prohibited from ever selling the reserves.

While it appears this initiative is also destined to fail, it has stirred up global gold markets, with economists warning of trade havoc should it pass.

Under Switzerland's system of direct democracy, citizens can force popular votes if they gather enough signatures of support.

Those initiatives that are approved must be written into law within three years.

Most voters in the referendum have already cast postal ballots, and initial results should be released shortly after polling ends at noon local time (1100 UTC).

jr/tj (AFP, Reuters)