Switzerland is preparing to adopt a new law on foreigners. It was approved by the Federal Council and is now being debated by the national Parliament. The bill endorses the existence of a right for foreigners, but one that is applicable only to particular immigrants, depending on nationality. Citizens of the European Union are no longer considered foreigners, since they benefit from the Accords on the free circulation of persons. On the other hand, the overwhelming majority of persons coming from the rest of the world are deprived of any chance of obtaining a residence permit, with one or two exceptions. So, on the basis of the new law, two categories of foreigners would exist in Switzerland: EU citizens and the rest. According to SOS Racism, this new law will traduce the letter and the spirit of the international Convention ratified also by Switzerland on 21 December 1965 on the elimination of every form of racial discrimination. The organization is therefore asking the UN Committee for the elimination of racial discrimination to express its veto on the matter. “This [legislation] stresses SOS Racism would represent a precedent which would have very serious consequences, since it would mean that a State, that is party to the Convention, could conduct a policy of racial discrimination, in total contradiction of its international commitments”. I. C.
