Swiss acknowledge 'crime against humanity' of forcibly placing children

Switzerland has acknowledged that its past role in the forced placement of children from the itinerant Yenish and Sinti communities with other families amounted to a "crime against humanity".

The Swiss government estimated that around 2,000 children were involved in such placements.

"The government recognises that the acts perpetrated within the framework of the 'Aid Organisation for Children of the Road' must be qualified as a 'crime against humanity' under current international law," it said in a statement on Thursday.

The government "reaffirms the apology it made to those affected in 2013 for the injustices committed", it added.

The interior ministry "will clarify with them to what extent there is still a need to deal with the past beyond the measures already taken".

Switzerland said that by 1981, more than 100,000 children and adults had been affected by compulsory welfare measures or extra-familial placement in foster care.

"The victims of these acts were people from disadvantaged backgrounds or whose lifestyles did not correspond to the social norms of the time," the statement said.

Among them were people with an "itinerant lifestyle", such as the Yenish and the Sinti.

The main actor in the child removals was the "Aid Organisation for Children of the Road" programme run by the Pro Juventute charitable foundation.

Between 1926 and 1973, those running the operation removed around 600 Yenish children from their parents and forcibly placed them in homes, educational institutions and foster families, with the help of the authorities.

This was in violation of the principles of the rule of law, the statement said.

Sinti children were also affected.

In addition, adults who had been placed in foster care as minors were "placed under guardianship, housed in institutions, banned from marrying and, in individual cases, forcibly sterilised".

Outside Pro Juventute, religious charities and authorities were also involved, leading the government to estimate the number of placements at "around 2,000".