Negative naturalisation decision lays bare the arbitrary and discretionary powers of local naturalisation committees in Switzerland
Funda Yilmaz, a 25-year old born to Turkish parents in Switzerland, has been living in the municipality of #Buchs in the canton of Aargau for 16 years She works as a construction planner in Aarau, speaks perfect Swiss German and writes flawless Standard German. She is member of a local association and plays football for a local club. She is engaged with a Swiss man. And she had a perfect score on the citizenship and political knowledge test.
Still, the municipality of Buchs denied her naturalization request. The reason: Yilmaz “lives in a small world and shows no interest in entering a dialogue with Switzerland and its population”. This assessment was based on facts such as her decision to go to a supermarket rather than to the local butcher and having most of her friends in a neighbouring municipality.
After the full transcript of the naturalisation interview – which consisted of over 90 questions – became public, it raised eyebrows even among some members of the right-wing Swiss People’s party. This case shows, again, how restrictive Swiss citizenship law is, not only on paper but even more so in practice.
▻http://eudo-citizenship.eu/news/citizenship-news/1868-negative-naturalisation-decision-lays-bare-the-arbitrary-and-d
#arbitraire #Argovie