Swiss govt plans to halt international adoptions

The Swiss government said Wednesday it planned to ban adoptions in the country of children from abroad after revelations of large-scale irregularities and concerns over continued abuses in the practice.

Switzerland's government, known as the Federal Council, announced in a statement that it had tasked the justice ministry with drafting a proposal by the end of next year.

"In Switzerland, it will no longer be possible to adopt children from abroad in the future," it said in a statement.

The government said a review by a panel of independent experts had determined that even the strictest adoption laws could not prevent abuse.

"The status quo is not good enough," Justice Minister Beat Jans told reporters.

The government had commissioned the independent review after two studies in recent years revealed large-scale abuses, indicating that thousands of children may have been illegally adopted from a range of countries and brought to Switzerland between 1970 and 1990.

"Large-scale irregularities have occurred in international adoptions in the past," the statement said.

"The Federal Council has recognised these irregularities and regrets that the authorities have not fulfilled their responsibility towards children and their families," it added.

"For the Federal Council, it is clear that there must be no more irregularities of this kind."

The independent experts had been tasked with examining whether and how a revision of international adoption legislation could prevent abuse in the future.

Their report had found that Swiss national and regional measures had already gone a long way to making international adoption safer.

But it had concluded that "even with a revised and well-crafted law on adoption and the commitment of significant resources, it remains uncertain whether abuse can be completely prevented", the government said.

It said its decision to push for a full ban also took into account that the number of international adoptions in Switzerland had fallen sharply in recent years, from several hundred to around 30 per year.

The justice ministry was "examining possible exceptions as part of the legislative process, in particular for intra-family adoptions", the statement said, stressing that adoptions from within Switzerland would remain legal.