The cantons create a platform for the search for origins

The cantons want to support illegally adopted people in their search for their origins. They decided to create a common platform allowing regular exchanges between them.

Many adoptions were marred by irregularities in the 1970s to 1990s in Sri Lanka and other countries. Various cantons met in February to discuss the organization of research into the origins of these people, research which falls within the competence of the cantons, the Conference of Cantonal Directors of Social Affairs (CDAS) recalled on Friday.

During a strategic meeting organized on Friday in Bern, fourteen cantons decided to establish an ad hoc structure for intercantonal cooperation, both administrative and political.

This platform, open to other cantons, will be used for exchanges and consultation and will enable coordinated action. It will be able to develop joint declarations which will not, however, be legally binding, but will provide a guideline for activities in the cantons, writes the CDAS.

The authorities’ failures in the past still mark the lives of people adopted at the time today, the press release recalls. Various obstacles stand before the people concerned in the search for their origins, and the cantons are looking for solutions to better support them.

Justice Minister Beat Jans welcomes the cantonal coordination process and the creation of this platform. The latter will also be available to the Confederation as a direct contact in the future. The Basel resident also assures the cantons that the Confederation, within the framework of its possibilities, will support the cantons in their task as much as possible.

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