Switzerland will hold a binding referendum later this month on whether to subject any foreign resident to automatic deportation if convicted of offenses ranging from murder to breaking the speed limit.
Sentiment in the famously wealthy and orderly Alpine republic has drifted towards the anti-foreigner right as more than 1.1 million migrants have streamed into Europe during the past year, and over a spate of sexual assaults by mainly North African migrants on women partying on New Year's Eve in Germany.
The anti-immigration Swiss People's Party (SVP), which holds about a third of seats in parliament, engineered the referendum by securing the required number of signatures, playing on fears that refugees may pose growing risks to the Swiss way of life.
