The Administrative Council calls for you to vote against the citizen’s initiative “In favour of moderate immigration (limitation initiative)”

Accepting this initiative would jeopardise the stable relations that Switzerland maintains with its main partner and would impair the proper functioning of numerous professional sectors such as those of healthcare, catering and construction. The accompanying measures linked to free movement which protect the jobs and salaries of domestic workers would also be threatened, leaving the door open to wage and social dumping. Furthermore, this text serves to spread a xenophobic sentiment that the municipal authorities have, for many years, fought hard to eradicate through the City of Geneva’s policy of diversity

As the heart of a cross-border conurbation in which 49% of the population does not claim Swiss nationality, the City of Geneva is a meeting place and trading hub with a highly cosmopolitan identity. Home to the European headquarters of the UN as well as numerous international organisations, its openness to the world and its long tradition of welcoming others is a key element in its genetic make-up. To a large extent, Geneva owes its economic prosperity and rich diversity to foreign workers. The essential role they play in the city’s economic and social fabric has proved to be even more important since the beginning of the health crisis currently facing us. That is why the Administrative Council is strongly opposed to the citizen’s initiative “In favour of moderate immigration” which it deems to be contrary to its values and dangerous for the future of Switzerland, and in particular Geneva. It therefore encourages the population to vote no to this federal issue on 27 September.

Additional information

Mr Sami Kanaan, Mayor of Geneva, by contacting
Mr Félicien Mazzola, Personal Assistant, tel. 079 542 66 50

Mr Alfonso Gomez, Administrative Councillor, Department of Finance, Housing and the Environment, tel. 022 418 22 33.