Swiss Aid Organization Hopes Initiative on Foreigners' Expulsion to 'Fail'

The Swiss Caritas Internationalis relief organization hopes that the vote on automatic deportation of convicted foreign residents will fail.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Alexander Mosesov — The Swiss Caritas Internationalis relief organization hopes for Sunday's vote on whether to automatically deport convicted foreign residents from Switzerland to fail, Stefan Gribi, the head of communications at Caritas Switzerland, told Sputnik on Thursday.

"We hope for a no, but it is not possible to make a prediction," Gribi said.

On February 28, Swiss people are set to vote on whether foreign nationals who reside in Switzerland should be automatically deported if found guilty of committing a crime, ranging from murder to speeding. The initiative was proposed by the anti-immigration Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which has previously proposed a 21,000 limit on migration into the country.

On December 4, the government of Switzerland, where foreigners constitute almost one-quarter of the population, announced its plans to limit immigration from the European Union. The move came after a 2014 voting, when 50.3 percent of Swiss people backed a right-wing proposal to reintroduce immigration quotas for EU citizens arriving in the country.

Caritas Internationalis is a federation of over 160 Catholic relief and social service organizations around the globe. It describes itself as "the helping hand of the Church" in reaching out to people in need.