Swiss face controversial immigration vote

By Katie Reid

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss voters will decide on Sunday whether to back a controversial proposal that would give individual communities the authority to award Swiss passports.

More than a fifth of Switzerland's 7.5 million residents are foreigners, according to Federal Statistics Office 2006 data, a higher proportion than almost any other European country and due in part to the difficulty of becoming a naturalized citizen.

A proposal by the populist Swiss People's Party (SVP), which has plastered the country with posters featuring yellow and black hands grabbing at Swiss passports, could make that process more difficult.

The SVP is calling for the naturalization of immigrants to be decided by a popular vote in the commune where the immigrant lives, a procedure banned five years ago after a number of communities repeatedly blocked passport applications.

"The decision about who should become Swiss or not must be able to be decided by the voters in the communities, they know the candidates better than courts or authorities," the SVP said in a statement.

But the SVP, Switzerland's most popular party with nearly 29 percent of the vote in last year's general election, faces an uphill struggle in this referendum, with 56 percent opposing the motion in the latest survey by polling organization gfs Bern.

Opponents of the proposal say private details about applicants would have to be sent to thousands of voters if it were accepted.

"This is a gross invasion of someone's private life. No Swiss person would tolerate this and strip themselves bare in front of their communities," the Social Democratic (SP) party said in a pre-referendum flyer.

The SVP is backed by billionaire industrialist Christoph Blocher and has increased its power over the last 10 years by focusing on worries about immigration. It has sent out literature detailing various crimes committed by immigrants who had been granted Swiss citizenship.

The party drew accusations of racism by rights groups and the United Nations during last October's election campaign for its posters showing a black sheep being kicked off a Swiss flag by three white sheep.

And its latest campaign contrasts with publicity from the tourist board, welcoming hundreds of thousands of soccer fans who will travel in June to Switzerland and neighboring Austria for the Euro 2008 soccer tournament.

(Editing by Sam Cage and Mary Gabriel)