Possibly thousands of adoptions due to illegal practices
Published: Friday, Dec 8th 2023, 13:50
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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. These are the findings of a new study. The Federal Council regretted on Friday that the authorities did nothing at the time.
On behalf of the Federal Council, the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) examined documents in the Federal Archives on adoptions from Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, India, Colombia, Korea, Lebanon, Peru and Romania. They came across 8,000 entry permits issued in the 1970s to 1990s for children from these countries of origin.
Most of these children came from India with almost 2799 entries, followed by Colombia with 2122, Brazil with 1222 and Korea with 1065. But in all ten countries of origin, there were cases of child trafficking or cases in which the Swiss immigration authorities were confronted with children whose origins were not sufficiently documented, said Nadja Ramsauer, head of the study at the ZHAW.
"Problem externalized"
The course of these illegal practices can be imagined as a circular movement. For example, in the 1970s, embassies in Brazil were confronted with the fact that the prospective adoptive parents had already been entered as parents in the birth register.
If the representations then requested information from the Federal Office for Foreign Nationals or the Federal Office of Justice in Bern, they were referred to the relevant authorities in Brazil. At the same time, it was known that there was child trafficking in Brazil at the time, in which even a juvenile court judge was involved. However, the problem was repeatedly "externalized".
The files also show that some parents went to great lengths to realize their strong desire to have children, "even to the point of illegal practices". In particular, parents who were looking for a child without a local placement agency in order to avoid long waiting times were at risk of coming into contact with child trafficking.
Complex procedures
The fact that the Swiss authorities did nothing despite indications of systemic errors had to do with the fragmentation of responsibilities and the complex procedures, said Ramsauer. In addition, Switzerland had not yet ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child or the Hague Convention on Child Protection.
The professor emphasized that her examination of the files in the Federal Archives was not a "thorough historical analysis". It was merely a question of what the Swiss representations abroad or the federal authorities knew about child trafficking or illegal adoptions.
This study now provides an overview of the existing archive material. However, the researchers did not look at individual case files. In her view, this is one of the requirements for future research projects. Because there is a need for research in all cantons and mediation centers, said Ramsauer.
Revision of adoption law
The Federal Council took note of the ZHAW report on Friday. It regretted that the authorities did not adequately fulfill their responsibility towards these children and their families. "These failures on the part of the authorities continue to shape the lives of the people adopted at the time to this day," it said in a statement.
The cantons are now responsible for supporting those affected in their search for origin. For the Federal Council, it is clear that such irregularities should no longer occur in the future. This requires a revision of international adoption law.
A group of experts appointed by the Federal Council developed two possible scenarios on the subject of international adoption: The first would require - in addition to legal reform - limiting cooperation to countries that "demonstrably" comply with the minimum guarantees.
The second option would be to stop international adoptions altogether. According to the report, around 50 children per year have still been adopted from abroad in recent years. The Federal Council instructed the experts to present it with "in-depth clarifications" by the end of 2024.
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