Swiss authorities address failures in international adoptions
Between 1970 and 1999, several thousand children probably came to Switzerland for adoption from abroad through child trafficking, forged documents, missing information on origin or other illegal practices.
KEYSTONE
Federal Councillor Beat Jans met with representatives of Swiss cantons on Friday to discuss the organisation on failures by the authorities in international adoptions between the 1970s and 1990s. Initial decisions are to be made at a strategy day in autumn 2024.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
The federal government wants to support the cantons in finding a solution, the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) announced. The responsibility to support those affected in their search for their ancestry lies with the cantons. The illegal international adoption has affected the lives of the people adopted to this day.
More
More
The Swiss illegally adopted thousands of children from abroad
This content was published on
Children from 10 countries were fraudulently adopted between the 1970s and 1990s. The Swiss authorities were aware of this.
In December 2023, a report by the Conference of Cantonal Justice and Police Directors (KKJPD) formulated concrete recommendations for pooling responsibilities and supporting those affected, as the FDJP wrote.
Today, international adoptions are processed according to clearly defined, internationally recognised standards. The Federal Council nevertheless sees a need for action and initiated a corresponding revision of adoption law in December last year, it added.
More
More
Illegal adoptions from Sri Lanka: ‘These wounds do not heal’
This content was published on
Strangers in their own country: a study shows for the first time the consequences for Sri Lankan children adopted in Switzerland.
Between 1970 and 1999, several thousand children probably came to Switzerland for adoption from abroad through child trafficking, forged documents, missing information on origin or other illegal practices. This was revealed in a report published by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) last December.
Translated from German by DeepL/amva
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Swiss Abroad
How centuries of Swiss emigrants left their mark on the US
What can be done to protect biodiversity in your country?
Swiss voters are set to decide on a people’s initiative calling for better protection of ecosystems in the country. Have your say on the September 22 vote.
Bodycams: essential for good law enforcement, or a privacy risk?
Did you ever come across bodycams in your place of residence and if so, how do you think the use of bodycams alter the relationship between the public and (transport) police?
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.