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{{Swiss voters will decide on Sunday whether to curb immigration by European Union citizens, in a referendum that risks igniting a row with Brussels.}}

If the measure is approved, the government would have to renegotiate painstakingly forged treaties with the European Union on the free movement of workers. It could also put Switzerland – which prides itself on a long humanitarian tradition – at odds with international accords on asylum.

Neutral Switzerland is not in the EU but is ringed by countries that are members and does most of its trade with the 28-nation bloc.

Since 2007, the EU’s 500 million residents have enjoyed an equal footing with locals on the job market of Switzerland, a country of eight million.

That is part of a raft of deals signed with the EU in 1999 after five years of talks, approved by Swiss voters in a 2000 referendum and then phased in.

But a referendum coalition helmed by the right-wing populist Swiss People’s Party – the largest in Switzerland’s parliament – says that opening the door fully to EU citizens was a huge mistake.

If passed, the coalition’s proposal would bind the government to renegotiate the labour market deal within three years.

Opinion polls show growing support for the plan, which would impose an absolute limit on the number of foreigners who can move to Switzerland each year.

But the government, most political parties and the Swiss business and industry federations warn that ripping it up would kill off the related economic deals and dent Switzerland’s credibility as a partner for the EU.

They also say that slapping restrictions on hiring EU citizens would be a disaster, arguing that the steady stream of foreign labour is a driving force of this wealthy economy with virtually full employment and an ageing population.

Until 2007, Swiss firms had to clear bureaucratic hurdles before being allowed to recruit a non-resident, with official quotas for foreign employees set down for each business sector.

National sovereignty

Brussels has warned that Switzerland cannot pick and choose from the binding package of deals negotiated painstakingly in the 1990s, seen as a way for Switzerland to enjoy the benefits of access to the EU market without joining the bloc.

Brussels is already battling internal dissent over its own borderless labour market – west European countries complain about competition from citizens of eastern member states – and has ruled out reopening the issue with Switzerland.

Such arguments have not swayed the campaign coalition, which says national sovereignty is at stake.

It argues that the arrival of 80,000 new residents per year has been an economic and social disaster, and not only because EU citizens have allegedly undercut Swiss workers.

It says that overpopulation has driven up rents, stretched the health and education systems, overloaded the road and rail networks, and eaten into the landscape due to housing construction.

Immigration and national identity are traditional headline issues in a country with a long history of drawing foreign workers and some of Europe’s toughest rules for obtaining citizenship.

But over recent years, the proportion of foreigners has risen from around one-fifth of the population to roughly a quarter.

The majority of recent immigrants are from neighbouring Germany, Italy and France, as well as Portugal.

Most Swiss cast their postal ballots, making voting on the day relatively brief.

Polling stations are scheduled to close at noon (GMT+1) on Sunday, with an early estimate of the results expected soon afterwards.

AFP

Iranian warships in the Atlantic Ocean are to sail close to US maritime borders for the first time, a senior naval commander has said.

Iranian media quoted Adm Afshin Rezayee Haddad as saying the deployment was a response to US vessels in the Gulf.

The fleet consists of a destroyer and a helicopter-carrying supply ship.

It began its voyage last month and entered the Atlantic though South African waters, the IRNA news agency quoted the admiral as saying.

The Iranian ships are reported to be carrying about 30 navy academy cadets for training along with their regular crews. They are on a three-month mission.

Correspondents say that the voyage comes amid continuing efforts by Iran to to project its power across the Middle East and beyond.

The semi-official Fars news agency said the move was a response to an increased US naval presence in the Gulf.

“Iran’s military fleet is approaching the United States’ maritime borders, and this move has a message,” it quoted Adm Rezayee Haddad as saying.

{{Two owners of a Bangladesh garment factory where 112 workers died in a fire two years ago have turned themselves in to the authorities.}}

Delwar Hossain and his wife were charged with homicide in December.

The couple arrived at Dhaka magistrates court, and have now been jailed after their plea for bail was rejected.

Although arrests warrants had been issued in December, they had been living freely in Dhaka.

It was not clear why they decided to give themselves up.

They face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

The Tazreen fire was the country’s deadliest garment factory fire, and brought attention to working conditions in the all-important garment industry.

The country suffered an even greater tragedy just months later when the Rana Plaza garment factory complex collapsed on the outskirts of Dhaka, killing 1,135 people.

{{Poor conditions}}

Mr Hossain and his wife, Mahmuda Akter, are among 13 people who were charged over the fire.

An investigation found that when the blaze broke out, managers and security guards told workers it was part of a regular drill, and it was too late for many to escape.

Investigators said the nine-storey factory had no emergency exits, and workers desperately trying to leave found that some of the gates were locked from the outside.

Victims of the fire, many of them women who were paid as little as $37 ( £23) a month, found themselves overcome by the smoke inside the building.

The Tazreen factory produced clothing for big retailers including Wal-Mart,

This the first time Bangladesh has sought to prosecute factory owners in the influential garment industry, which is the world’s second largest after China and a vital part of Bangladesh’s economy.

BBC