Kidnap rate spikes as Swiss marry foreigners
More children than ever before are being abducted in Switzerland - and a rise in the number of Swiss people marrying foreigners is being blamed.
Some 51 Swiss children were abducted and taken out of the country by a parent in 2013, compared to 42 in 2012 and 37 in 2011.
Mothers were responsible in seven out of ten cases, according to Ministry of Justice figures published in the Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper.
Abductions were also on the rise in the other direction.
The number of children illegally brought into Switzerland by one parent against the wishes of the other parent rose to 37 in 2013, up from just 12 in 2004.
The Ministry of Justice said an increase in the number of bi-national marriages was to blame for the rise.
The recorded figures are probably just the tip of the iceberg, according to Schweiz am Sonntag.
The official figures only cover abductions involving the 86 countries that have signed the Hague Child Abduction Convention.
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Some 51 Swiss children were abducted and taken out of the country by a parent in 2013, compared to 42 in 2012 and 37 in 2011.
Mothers were responsible in seven out of ten cases, according to Ministry of Justice figures published in the Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper.
Abductions were also on the rise in the other direction.
The number of children illegally brought into Switzerland by one parent against the wishes of the other parent rose to 37 in 2013, up from just 12 in 2004.
The Ministry of Justice said an increase in the number of bi-national marriages was to blame for the rise.
The recorded figures are probably just the tip of the iceberg, according to Schweiz am Sonntag.
The official figures only cover abductions involving the 86 countries that have signed the Hague Child Abduction Convention.
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