 had to stay hidden when he moved to Switzerland from ItalyChildren of migrants who came to work in Switzerland over decades are demanding an apology for a policy they say destroyed families and left many traumatised. From the 1950s right up until the 1990s, hundreds of thousands of workers - first from Italy, then from Spain, Portugal, and what was then Yugoslavia - made the journey to Switzerland.They worked in factories, on roads and building sites, in restaurants and hotels. Switzerland's highly successful economy, its good infrastructure, is without doubt due in part to them.But there were flaws in the system. The migrants were given nine- or 12-month permits; many lived in barracks, their only function in Switzerland was to work. And family members - including young children - were not allowed. A husband and wife could work together in Switzerland, but, the work permits stipulated, their children had to stay at home.Egidio Stigliano, now in his 60s, remembers being taken at the age of three by his grandmother to wave to a train leaving Italy to Switzerland. "I didn't know my mother was on the train," he remembers. "They thought I was too young to be told what was happening. But my mother wanted to see me one last time."Image source, Swiss Social ArchiveImage caption, Workers arrived from across Europe - but they weren't allowed to bring their childrenThe system might have worked if the migrant workers had really been temporary. But their permits were renewed year after year, and some spent their entire lives working in Switzerland. Melinda Nadj Obonji was just a year old when she and her older brother were left with their grandmother in Vojvodina in Serbia. Despite their "no children" seasonal work permits, Melinda's parents hoped that, once settled in Switzerland, they would be allowed to send for their children."They wrote letters to the immigration police, but they were rejected, [the pol){kind=link}
Children of migrants who came to work in Switzerland over decades are demanding an apology for a policy they say destroyed families and left many traumatised.
From the 1950s right up until the 1990s, hundreds of thousands of workers – first from Italy, then from Spain, Portugal, and what was then Yugoslavia – made the journey to Switzerland.
They worked in factories, on roads and building sites, in restaurants and hotels. Switzerland’s highly successful economy, its good infrastructure, is without doubt due in part to them.
But there were flaws in the system. The migrants were given nine- or 12-month permits; many lived in barracks, their only function in Switzerland was to work.
And family members – including young children – were not allowed. A husband and wife could work together in Switzerland, but, the work permits stipulated, their children had to stay at home.