Zwischen humanitärer Solidarität und Transitprinzip. Die Umsiedlung von Flüchtlingen in der Schweiz durch die International Refugee Organization, 1947–1952
| Résumé |
The resettlement of «Displaced Persons» after the Second World War
by the International Refugee Organization (IRO) has popularly been
presented as a success story by the authorities. Switzerland joined
the organisation in 1949 and consequently resettled several thousand
refugees as part of international resettlement programs. The article
aims to shed light on this largely unexplored episode in Swiss
history. It seeks to understand Switzerland’s humanitarian
involvement not only on a structural but also on an individual
level by complementing the federal sources with several refugee
case histories. The stories are able to better convey the
precarious refuge experience in transit. Refugees were caught
between the pressure exerted by Swiss authorities to leave the
country and the conflicting fact that not everyone was eligible for
resettlement under the Mandate of the IRO. This meant that refugee
families especially were faced with the difficult decision of
whether or not to leave family members behind; a situation that was
further complicated by the impending liquidation of the IRO, which
put the refugees under considerable time pressure. The case
histories therefore not only complicate the image of Switzerland’s
«humanitarian tradition» but also reveal the ambivalences of
humanitarian aid on an individual level. |
| Mots-clés |
Personnes déplacées, Organisation internationale pour les réfugiés, aide humanitaire, resettlement |
| Citation | Wiederkehr, R. (2020). Zwischen humanitärer Solidarität und Transitprinzip. Die Umsiedlung von Flüchtlingen in der Schweiz durch die International Refugee Organization, 1947–1952. Revue suisse d'histoire, 70(2), 219-236. |
| Type | Article de périodique (Allemand) |
| Date de publication | 1-9-2020 |
| Nom du périodique | Revue suisse d'histoire |
| Volume | 70 |
| Numéro | 2 |
| Pages | 219-236 |