A 13-year-old girl doesn't want to live with her mother in Brazil, but with her father in Switzerland. So she goes into hiding. Then she falls into the clutches of the Swiss justice system. She has to spend several days in prison and is ultimately to be deported against her will.
Observer 15/07
Deportation
Text: Thomas Buomberger
Image: Georgios Kefalas
Sandra (name changed) appears open and self-assured during her conversation with the observer. The past traumatic weeks have clearly left their mark on her, but the girl tries not to show it.
Until she was eleven years old, Sandra lived in Switzerland. Completely unexpectedly, her mother, a naturalized Brazilian citizen, returned to Brazil with her and her younger brother two years ago. Sandra recounts: “I was visiting a friend. My mother came and said we were going back to South America. When I asked when, she replied, ‘Today.’ I couldn’t even say goodbye to my father.” Sandra’s world collapsed. She struggled to make new friends in Vittoria, Brazil, lived in a dangerous neighborhood, was afraid of being mugged, couldn’t attend school for months, and fell into a deep depression.
In December 2006, Sandra was on holiday in Switzerland with her mother. She knew she didn't want to return to Brazil. Some time after her arrival, she hatched a plan. "I told my father I wanted to go down to the town of Rheinfelden. Beforehand, I packed a few things in a backpack. I took the train to Zurich, called a specific number, and then someone picked me up." A friend offered the 13-year-old shelter.
Then Sandra came to live with a foster family in Münchwilen, Thurgau, and attended school there. She liked it very much, but her happiness was not to last. Her mother had filed a lawsuit for child abduction – the father, Helmut Baldauf, was labeled the child abductor by the court. In March 2007, the Rheinfelden District Court in Aargau ruled that Sandra had to be returned to Brazil. Baldauf appealed this ruling. Sandra says: "I had nightmares when I thought about going back."
That Sandra wanted to stay in Switzerland apparently played no role in the verdict. The girl was not even heard (see sidebar "SOS Observer: A lawyer was important for Sandra"). On the contrary: the authorities were serious. They intended to enforce the sentence on May 9th.
“That day, I wanted to go home at 4:30. About 100 meters from my house, a man and a woman approached me. They introduced themselves as police officers and wanted to know my name and where I lived. That's when I fainted.” When Sandra woke up, she was lying in a police car. “I didn't find the police officer nice at all. He asked me if I had fainted on purpose.”
The officers first took Sandra to the Münchwilen police station, then to Frauenfeld, and finally to Basel, where she was placed in the closed juvenile detention center "Foyer in den Ziegelhöfen." It wasn't until 10:30 p.m. that Helmut Baldauf learned from guardian Peter Uebelhart, appointed by the Rheinfelden guardianship authority, that Sandra was alright. The father was not informed of his daughter's whereabouts.
The pilot refuses to take off
“I had to hand everything over,” Sandra recounts, “even my clothes. I was locked in a room at night, was terrified, and couldn’t sleep. I kept demanding to be allowed to speak to my father and foster parents on the phone, but they wouldn’t let me. It wasn’t until a week later that I was able to speak to my father.” Uebelhart had planned the deportation for the following day.
Sandra experienced terrible moments: “Mr. Uebelhart, along with a male and a female police officer, came to me. They said we were going to Zurich Airport. I started to cry. The men were laughing amongst themselves. There was a news report on the radio about my arrest. When we arrived, I was ordered to get out of the car. I refused. Then the policewoman tried to pull me out of the car, but she couldn't. A man from the airport told her she wasn't allowed to do that.” Support counsel Uebelhart stated: “No violence was used against Sandra at any point.”
The escorts took Sandra to the airport police station, where she spent about two hours. "Afterwards, we drove to the plane in a car with tinted windows," she recalls. "Mr. Uebelhart and the police officers walked with me down the corridor to the plane. That's when I said I wasn't going another step. The escorts tried to persuade me. Mr. Uebelhart said I would be helping my father if I boarded the plane. He tried to pull me by the arm, so I hit him." Mr. Uebelhart's testimony: "I held out my hand and asked if we wanted to go on the plane together, but she pulled hers back."
There were 230 passengers waiting for takeoff on the plane. The pilot, who wished to remain anonymous, described the situation: "I was informed by a colleague that a girl was resisting with all her might, screaming and refusing to board the plane. I didn't want to risk having problems with the girl during the twelve-hour flight and perhaps even having to make an emergency landing." Therefore, he refused to take off.
Helpless in front of locked doors
After consulting with the pilot, a security officer left the plane. Sandra: “I simply followed him back down the aisle. Then we drove back to Basel. I felt really satisfied and was able to sleep well that night.” Uebelhart testified: “It was my decision that Sandra should return.” The guardian saw his role as an agent of the court, which had classified Sandra’s disappearance as kidnapping. Sandra’s foster family in Münchwilen filed a criminal complaint against him for unlawful deprivation of liberty.
Sandra was sent back to the juvenile detention center in Basel. Her only "crime": wanting to stay with her father. She was interrogated there by two police officers. But while every adult has the right to legal representation, she was denied this. "I demanded that at least the head of the facility be present, and that was allowed." She was only allowed to speak to her father on the phone a few times; she wasn't allowed to see him. "Once, my father and his partner came, but I was only allowed to wave to them from the window." Even today, Sandra's father gets tears in his eyes when he remembers standing helplessly in front of locked doors. However, her mother's lawyer was allowed to see Sandra. "I told him: I won't speak to you until I've seen my father."
The Aargau High Court heard Sandra's testimony and ruled on June 6th that she does not have to return to Brazil. The decision is now legally binding. Sandra is currently living with a foster family in the canton of Aargau. The guardianship authority in Rheinfelden is now determining whether Sandra can permanently join her father.
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