The Swiss children coercion reparation initiative (
German: ''Wiedergutmachungsinitiative'') was a Swiss
federal popular initiative
In Switzerland, a popular initiative ( German: ''Volksinitiative'', French: ''Initiative populaire'', Italian: ''Iniziativa popolare'', Romansh: ''Iniziativa dal pievel'') allows the people to suggest law on a national, cantonal, and municip ...
to change the federal constitution,
which was launched in April 2014.
Summary
In April 2014, the collection of Swiss citizens' signatures started, and at least 100,000 had signed by 1 October 2015. The
popular initiative
In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a p ...
addressed the fate of forced
child labourers in Switzerland, the so-called ''
Verdingkinder'', a term formerly used in the Swiss-German language. Another "integration project," related to the so-called "misplaced persons," affected tens of thousands of
juveniles, who were placed as labourers at Swiss farms, with low pay. Among them were also
''Fahrende'' or ''Jenisch'' juveniles affected by the then Swiss foundation ''
Kinder der Landstrasse
Kinder der Landstrasse (literally: Children of the Country Road) was a project of the Swiss foundation Pro Juventute, active from 1926 to 1973. The focus of the project was the assimilation of the itinerant Yenish people in Switzerland by forci ...
,'' though not their families.
The initiative was actively supported by the
''Beobachter'', which revealed the fates of the ''Verdingkinder''
and the ''Kinder der Landstrasse'' foundation. The popular initiative, set up by Guido Fluri and other prominent citizens, among them writer
Lukas Hartmann,
was supported among others, by the parent organization of the Swiss churches and the association of the Swiss teachers.
Aims (excerpt)
The initiative was started by an inter-political committee and addressed the inadequate measures by the Swiss governmental authorities. It demanded:
* Reparations for the victims of forced
child labourers and welfare-driven coercive measures;
* A scholarly review of this dark chapter of Swiss history;
* The creation of a fund of over 500 million Swiss Francs for the purposes of the initiative;
It was pointed out that only severely affected victims obtain redress and that an independent commission should be formed to examine each case individually.
Background: ''Verdingkinder'' and ''Kinder der Landstrasse''
''
Verdingkinder'' (literally: "contract children" or "indentured child labourers") were children in Switzerland who were taken from their parents, often due to poverty or for "moral reasons" (usually because their mothers were unmarried and poor), of
''Gypsy''–
''Yeniche'' (Swiss German also ''Fahrende'') origin
and sent to live with new families, often poor farmers who needed cheap labour.
Many of these children, when they grew to be adults, have come forward to claim they were severely mistreated by their new "families,"
suffering neglect, beatings, and other
physical
Physical may refer to:
*Physical examination
In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally cons ...
and
psychological abuse
Psychological abuse, often called emotional abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another person to a behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic ...
.
There were
auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
s where children were handed over to the farmer asking the least money from the authorities, thus securing cheap labour for his farm and relieving the authority from the financial burden of looking after the children. In the 1930s, in the
Canton of Bern
The canton of Bern or Berne (german: Kanton Bern; rm, Chantun Berna; french: canton de Berne; it, Canton Berna) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. ...
, about 20% of all agricultural labourers were children below the age of 15.
[ The actions of the Swiss municipality guardianship authorities were tolerated by the federal authorities until the 1960s. Swiss historian Marco Leuenberger found that in 1930 there were some 35,000 indentured children, while, between 1920 and 1970, more than 100,000 are believed to have been placed with families or homes. Ten thousand former ''Verdingkinder'', women and men in Switzerland, are still alive in the mid-2010s.]
Supplement of the Swiss Federal Constitution claimed by the initiative
The initiative demands that the Swiss Federal Constitution
The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 10; german: Bundesverfassung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (BV); french: Constitution fédérale de la Confédération suisse (Cst.); it, Costituzione federale della Confederaz ...
should be amended as follows:
:''Art. 124a Wiedergutmachung für die Opfer von fürsorgerischen Zwangsmassnahmen und Fremdplatzierungen'', literally reparation for the victims of welfare step coercive measures and foreign placements
# The Confederation and the Cantons shall provide for compensation for the injustice, which has suffered particular resident, '' Verdingkinder'', administrative supplied, or forcibly sterilized forced adopted people and ''Fahrende'' (a Swiss-German term for literally Yeniche people) as a result-driven welfare coercion or foreign placements.
# To provide an independent scientific review of these measures and promote discussion about it to the public.
:''Art. 196 Ziff. 1212. Übergangsbestimmung Zu Art. 124a (Wiedergutmachung für die Opfer von fürsorgerischen Zwangsmassnahmen und Fremdplatzierungen)'', literally Transitional provision to Art. 124a (reparation for the victims of welfare step coercive measures and foreign placements):
# The Swiss Confederation establishes a fund in the amount of 500 million Swiss Frances for the victims of welfare step coercive measures and foreign placements that were done before 1981.
# Eligible are people who were directly affected and hard of such measures. The amount of restitution depends on the sustained injustice. About the payment of benefits, an independent commission has to conclude.
# The fund is dissolved twenty years after its creation. Any residual amount will be refunded proportionately to the depositors.
Status
On December 19, 2014 the initiative was submitted at the Federal Chancellery (''Bundeskanzlei'').[''Tagesschau'' on SRF 1 on 19 December 2014] On 16 September 2016 both chambers of the Swiss parliament approved that presumably to each surviving individual will paid CHF 25,000 in compensation. As of March 2018, about 7000 victims have applied for compensation.
See also
* Child labour in Switzerland
* Kinder der Landstrasse
Kinder der Landstrasse (literally: Children of the Country Road) was a project of the Swiss foundation Pro Juventute, active from 1926 to 1973. The focus of the project was the assimilation of the itinerant Yenish people in Switzerland by forci ...
* Verdingkinder
Bibliography
* Marco Leuenberger and Loretta Seglias (editors): ''Versorgt und vergessen. Ehemalige Verdingkinder erzählen.'' Rotpunktverlag
Rotpunktverlag is a Swiss publishing house, headquartered at ''Hohlstrasse 86A'', 8004 Zürich, Switzerland. Founded in 1976 in Zürich, it is specialized in political history.
History and publishing fields
The publishing house was founded in 19 ...
, Zürich 2008,
* Lotty Wohlwend and Arthur Honegger: ''Gestohlene Seelen: Verdingkinder in der Schweiz''. Huber Verlag, Bern,
* Sara Galle and Thomas Meier: ''Von Menschen und Akten - die Aktion Kinder der Landstrasse der Stiftung Pro Juventute''. Chronos Verlag, Zürich 2009, .
* Thomas Huonker, Regula Ludi: ''Roma, Sinti und Jenische. Schweizerische Zigeunerpolitik zur Zeit des Nationalsozialismus. Beitrag zur Forschung (Veröffentlichungen der UEK, Band 23).'' Chronos Verlag, Zürich 2001,
* Walter Leimgruber, Thomas Meier and Roger Sablonier, redaction by Bernadette Kaufmann: ''Kinder zwischen Rädern. Kurzfassung des Forschungsberichts «Das Hilfswerk für die Kinder der Landstrasse»''. Published by and in order of ''Bundesamt für Kultur «und Kinder» 20'', Nr. 67, November 2001, Zürich 2001.
References
External links
*
''Wiedergutmachungsinitiative'' on the website of the Swiss Federal Chancery (Schweizerische Bundeskanzlei)
''Wiedergutmachungsinitiative'' on the website of the Swiss television SRF
{{Portal bar, Politics, Switzerland
Popular initiatives (Switzerland)
2014 in Switzerland
Youth in Switzerland
Child labour in Switzerland
Racism in Switzerland
Cultural assimilation
Adoption history
Kidnapped Swiss children
Yenish people