What we do
International adult protection
ISS Switzerland supports adults in a transnational context who need protection.
For people subject to a deputyship measure, one instrument makes it possible to maintain this protection across borders: the Hague Convention on the International Protection of Adults (HCCH 2000), to which Switzerland is a party. For everyone else, and in countries that have not ratified the Convention, ISS Switzerland works directly with the competent services to ensure continuity of care.
Social assessment
Are you worried about a vulnerable family member living abroad? ISS Switzerland can report the situation to local services so that the person’s living conditions can be assessed and they can be referred to the competent authorities.
Transfer of measures
When a person under curatorship in Switzerland wants or needs to leave the country, ISS Switzerland works to have protective measures put in place in the country of destination, either by assisting the competent authorities with a transfer of the measure under the 2000 Hague Convention, or by contacting the social services on the ground directly.
Obtaining documents
ISS Switzerland acts abroad to obtain administrative documents (birth certificates, civil status certificates, land records, etc.) when they are needed for proceedings in Switzerland.
Amir: a sign-language interpreting service that changes a life
Amir, who is deaf and a national of a former Soviet republic, fled his country because of persecution linked to his sexual orientation. Denied a proper education for lack of specialised schools, he has limited literacy and can only communicate easily in Russian Sign Language.
Holding a Schengen visa issued by a French consulate, he first applied for asylum in the Netherlands. Under the Dublin Regulation, he was sent back to France, which was responsible for his case. In Marseille, left to fend for himself without any information in sign language, he wandered around the airport for two days before an acquaintance took him to Switzerland. The Swiss authorities, however, also wanted to return him to France, and he feared being traumatised again.
ISS stepped in by organising several meetings in Switzerland with Russian and French Sign Language interpreters: to explain the asylum procedure in France to him, to offer that ISS accompany him back, and above all to reassure him. ISS informed the organisation responsible for his accommodation of Amir’s dual vulnerability and put him in touch with associations in Marseille supporting LGBTQIA+ people and people with hearing loss.
Thanks to this groundwork, Amir was housed immediately and was later granted refugee status. Today, he is continuing his integration journey. Without ISS’s advance preparation and the funding of sign-language interpreters, Amir would have been left completely helpless and unable to access his most fundamental rights.
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Concerned about a situation?
If you would like to report a worrying case or ask for our help, write to us. Telephone helpline in Geneva (+41 22 731 67 00) and Zurich (+41 44 366 44 77).