Swiss slammed as 'black sheep' over expulsion vote

GENEVA: Switzerland was slammed as the "black sheep" of Europe on Monday after voters endorsed a far-right push to automatically expel foreign residents convicted of certain crimes.

Austrian website news.at headlined an article saying: "Switzerland is now the black sheep -- majority for tougher rules against foreigners."

The headline was a reference to the signature poster campaign mounted by the far-right Swiss People's Party (SVP) in its push for the expulsion, depicting white sheep kicking a black sheep out of the Swiss flag.

On Sunday, 52.9 per cent voted in favour of automatic expulsions and 47.1 per cent were against, with the country's German-speaking majority largely backing the proposal. Only six of the 26 cantons rejected the initiative.

The vote came exactly a year after Switzerland shocked the world by agreeing to ban the construction of new minarets, which was another proposal backed by the SVP.
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