Cornelius Koch, a prominent priest lobbying for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in Switzerland, warned Wednesday against the predicted swing to the right in parliamentary elections in just two weeks’ time.

Cornelius Koch, a prominent priest lobbying for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in Switzerland, warned Wednesday against the predicted swing to the right in parliamentary elections in just two weeks’ time.

In a symbolic action clearly meant to refer to the moral guidelines of the Bible, Koch sounded the alarm bells in front of parliament in the capital Berne. He wants to convince undecided voters to come out against right-wing and anti-immigration parties.

“Do not describe refugees as a threat to national security but as cultural enrichment for every nation,” says one of his 12 recommendations, which are also meant as an address to members of parliament.

Referring to the significant gains of Jörg Haider’s right-wing and anti-immigrant Freedom Party in the October 3 elections in Austria, Koch warned of the threat of neo-Nazi resurgence.

“A brown, anti-immigrant, anti-youth region in the Alps, encompassing Austria, Switzerland, Bavaria and northern Italy, could poison the whole of Europe,” Koch said.

Koch said he was shaken by the election in Austria. The result prompted Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy to threaten a break in diplomatic relations if Haider’s party joins a new government.

Koch warned against what he described as populists, who were gaining more and more ground in Switzerland.

He was clearly referring to the right-of-centre Swiss People’s Party, which, according to several polls over the past months, is expected to make the largest gains in parliamentary elections on October 24.

The populist figurehead of the party, parliamentarian and businessman Christoph Blocher, has repeatedly stated that too many people claiming to be refugees were allowed into the country, and this practice must be stopped.

The party’s election platform says the People’s Party is not against “honest” refugees, but that “too many illegal immigrants are seeking asylum in order to stay in Switzerland and win material benefits.”

From staff and wire reports.

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