Swiss ecologists seek to curb immigration

Members of the Swiss Ecology and Population
(Ecopop) group deliver boxes of signatures to
 the Swiss Chancellery in Bern. 

AFP - A group of Swiss environmentalists on Friday submitted a bill to the government aimed at reining in immigration in the name of curbing population growth and protecting the environment.

The Ecology and Population (Ecopop) first circulated a petition that garnered 120,700 certified signatures, thus easily passing the 100,000-threshold needed for the proposed law to be put to a referendum.

If Ecopop's initiative clears other administrative and legal hurdles, it will be put to a national referendum, likely in 2015.

The group, which claims to be opposed to all forms of xenophobia and racism, insists Switzerland must limit immigration to avoid urbanisation and to preserve its agricultural land and breathtaking nature.