The Swiss Send a Message to the EU

A Swiss national referendum has narrowly resulted in a measure to limit immigration. The government and the EU predictably lamented the voters' decision.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/swiss-divided-referendum-immigration-22430566

Make no mistake: The intent of the voting majority was not to keep out immigrants from places like Latin America (My wife has a Mexican cousin who is married to a Swiss banker and lives in Zurich), Asia, or other Western European countries (Switzerland does have a problem with many of their immigrants from the former Yugoslavia). The voters are trying to limit the exploding numbers of Muslim immigrants, just as they passed a referendum stopping construction of minarets on mosques a couple of years back.

The sad fact is that the social structure of Europe is being torn apart by restive Muslim immigrants who are not assimilating, largely living on welfare, and placing a burden on the social services of the various Western European countries, to say nothing of creating a rising crime problem that has made Muslim-inhabited areas ("no-go zones") unsafe for native Europeans.

The people have had enough.

Yet, they are opposed by their own political leaders and the EU, which favors open borders between the various European countries including non-EU Switzerland. That means that member countries cannot refuse entry to foreigners who are legally within the EU.

The Swiss don't want to see their placid country turn into another France, Belgium, Sweden, or Norway. Having visited the country countless times, I can say that they are not adverse to foreigners. They are not blind to the problems that are so obvious all over Europe, however. Common sense should dictate that any country should have the sovereign right to decide who is allowed to immigrate to their country. As always, innocent and worthy immigrants will suffer including Muslim immigrants (mostly Turks). That, however, is the price to be paid for the outrageous behavior of others.