Entanglements of Citizenship and Disability Rights: Inclusive or Exclusive Integration Criteria

Disabled people have acquired over time, in the form of international treaties like the United Nation Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD), protections from the state and guarantees to ‘fundamental rights’ that ensures the application of principles that promises/provide them a dignified life. However, this understanding has shifted over time, and this is due to societal changes and the attempts to deregulate the welfare state and restrict access to its services. This shift can be seen in how nation’s view ‘citizenship’ and their evolving perceptions of ‘core values’ that should prevail in a community; which must be reflected in an individual if they are to ‘fit in’ or able to become a ‘functional citizen.’.” This especially holds true for ‘newcomers’ and how they are treated and perceived by the nation when attempting to access or “earn” or “deserve” citizenship. However, this status can only be obtained by fulfilling specific criteria, which for some groups can be difficult to achieve. This can be the case for people with disabilities, in particular with the emphasis upon the “economic self-sufficiency ” or earning their rights based off their “capacity” to contribute to the state. As a result, states have the faculty to negatively discriminate against foreign immigrants even if they fall within a ‘protected’ group or category that can or should be exempted (i.e. positive discrimination) from certain criteria. Thus, there exists an intersecting policy tension between the “positive” discrimination in the forms of exemptions of citizenship criteria of disabled people and the “negative” discrimination of migrants. One of the best ‘case studies’ to examine such tensions is that of Switzerland, a country that is long established as a country of immigration with a differentiated legislation since WW I alongside a ‘human rights tradition.’ Therefore, it provides a rich ‘case study’ to examine such policy tensions in the field of migration. This study will compile and examine caselaw from the Swiss Federal Court that pertains to foreign migrants with disabilities and pose the following questions: (i) How has the legal framework that regulates access to Swiss citizenship through naturalization of immigrants with a disability evolved over time? (ii) Has said legal framework become more or less inclusive over time and (iii) On what grounds, and along what dimensions? In order to answer these questions, this study seeks to examine the evolution of the disability norm in law and its implementation via case law, utilizing a ‘historical analysis of law’ and apply it to the relevant articles and cases.