The government has defended its immigration policy giving European Union citizens preference over people from other countries. However, there has still been problems in the housing market.

Swiss voters narrowly decided that immigration quotas would be reintroduced, thereby overturning the free movement policy introduced in the European Union 12 years ago. Early results showed the country to be very divided in opinion over the ´Stop mass immigration’ initiative.

The initiative, known as ‘Stop mass immigration,’ was introduced by the nationalist Swiss People´s Party (SVP). Its goal is to introduce annual quotas on the number of foreign workers entering the country.

The SVP party has been campaigning for the amendment, saying that immigrants are destroying the nation’s Alpine identity and taking away skilled jobs

Switzerland voted in favor of new immigration curbs, risking a backlash from the European Union and thwarting the ability of companies to hire top talent abroad.

The measure, which requires the government to set an upper limit for foreigners, was supported by 50.3 percent of voters, the government said at a press conference in Bern. 

Sunday´s results stood in stark contrast to opinion polls, last taken 10 days ago, that showed 37 percent supporting the proposal. Experts said before the vote that they feared Swiss had pretended during the polling that they opposed the ban because they didn´t want to appear intolerant.

Switzerland votes in favour of capping immigration