Compensation so far paid to 6,000 Swiss ‘slave children’
A major photo exhibition on slave children and their stories took place in Bern from November 2016 to March 2017
Keystone
The Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) has processed some 6,000 claims for victims of forced labour and abuse. The aim is to deal with all the claims, totalling more than 9,000, by the end of the year.
For the compensation requests already processed, the amounts due have for the most part been paid, the FOJ said in a statementExternal link on Monday. In addition, all the priority requests from very old or seriously ill people were completed by the end of March.
The overwhelming majority of applications had been accepted, the office said. Less than 1% were rejected because their authors failed to “demonstrate that their victimisation was plausible”.
The Swiss government has agreed to payExternal link up to CHF25,000 ($24,800) in compensation to people who, as children, were victims of forced labour policies or placed in institutions, often suffering abuse or neglect. The “Verdingkinder” (slave children) practice continued until 1981.
Around 12,000-15,000 victims are still alive, the FOJ estimates.
The government announced the CHF300 million compensation scheme in September 2016, and it was launched in December of that year. The authorities had earlier offered official apologies to the survivors of this dark period of Swiss history.
The compensation scheme came after businessman Guido Fluri, himself a victim, launched an initiative in 2014 to spur reparations.
Victims officially had until March 31, 2018 to put in their claims for compensation. Just ahead of the deadline a spike in interest was reported.
More
More
Who were Switzerland’s ‘slave children’?
This content was published on
Clare O’Dea speaks to victims of historic abuse and neglect in Switzerland’s inadequate care system of the 1920s to 1970s and takes a closer look at the social and economic pressures at play. After years of campaigning by survivors, Swiss society now recognises that children in the past care system were badly let down. The Swiss government has…
As a Swiss Abroad, how do you feel about the emergence of more conservative family policies in some US states?
In recent years several US states have adopted more conservative policies on family issues, abortion and education. As a Swiss citizen living there, how do you view this development?
UN and Switzerland against forced displacement of Palestinians
This content was published on
The UN and the Swiss government are opposed to any forced displacement of Palestinians, as proposed by US President Donald Trump.
Swiss diocese introduces code of conduct to tackle church abuse
This content was published on
The Diocese of Sion has introduced a code of conduct to tackle all forms of church-related abuse. A prevention commission has also been established.
Women are the victims of most domestic shootings in Switzerland
This content was published on
Between 2015 and 2022, only one of the 41 perpetrators of domestic gun homicides was female. The vast majority of these cases were femicides.
Swiss army to invest in military equipment and decommission Patrouille Suisse jets
This content was published on
The Swiss army is set to spend CHF1.5 billion on new armaments. The 2025 Armed Forces Dispatch also plans to decommission the current Patrouille Suisse.
Geneva report urges ICJ action against Nicaragua for ‘repression’
This content was published on
International investigators in Geneva have accused Nicaragua's regime of possible crimes against humanity, urging the country be brought before the ICJ.
Swiss defence ministry files criminal complaint over resignation leaks
This content was published on
The Swiss defence ministry has filed a criminal complaint after leaks about the resignations of the army and intelligence chiefs.
WHO’s global lab network faces collapse without new funding
This content was published on
As measles cases surge in Texas, Geneva-based WHO warns its largest global laboratory network is on the brink of collapse unless new funding is secured.
Slow take-off in compensation of forced child workers
This content was published on
Fewer people than expected have applied to receive reparations through a government program to compensate so-called “discarded children.”
Champion of abuse victims considers government deal
This content was published on
Guido Fluri, a former boys home resident turned multimillionaire, told the Tages-Anzeiger and Der Bund newspapers on Saturday that if parliament approves the counterproposal next week, he would “in all likelihood” withdraw the initiative. He added, however, that the decision would have to be taken by the initiative committee as a whole. In 2014, Fluri…
This content was published on
It is a chapter in Swiss history that has left painful scars. Now victims of these measures have been invited to a “ceremony of commemoration” in Bern on Thursday. “I was born without a father and my mother gave me to my grandmother to look after. When my grandmother died, they placed me with the…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.