Self-help organization supports 70 illegal adoptees
Published: Thursday, Feb 15th 2024, 15:00
Volver a Live Feed
Two years after the start of a pilot project, the "Back to the Roots" interest group is helping 70 illegally adopted people to find their parents in Sri Lanka. New victims are constantly coming forward - even those who are not from Sri Lanka.
The project revealed a diverse need for support among those affected, as the organization announced in an interim report on Thursday. It acts as a contact point.
As a result of the illegal adoption procedures, many of Switzerland's legal options for tracing the family of origin are blocked, according to a press release. For this reason, adoptees need special care and support that goes far beyond the search.
This means they have to come to terms with the injustice they have suffered by confronting their own history. The investigations in Sri Lanka are lengthy and DNA tests are essential to establish a relationship.
"Back to the Roots" demands that the pilot project with the 70 people affected be continued, established as a permanent and professional service and extended to all people who have allegedly been adopted unlawfully. The Confederation and cantons must accept their responsibility.
According to a joint declaration with the interest group, the Confederation and the cantons have been supporting illegal Sri Lankan adoptees with a maximum of CHF 250,000 per year since 2022 in their search for origin.
From the 1970s to the 1990s, Swiss couples adopted almost 900 infants from the island nation - mainly illegally. The Swiss authorities systematically looked the other way, as a report by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) revealed in 2020.
©Keystone/SDA
Spanish 
English 
German 
French 
Arabic