The Government has announced that Gordon Brown is set to apologise for the role of the UK Government in sending thousands of its young citizens to Australia, Canada and other former colonies under the Child Migrant programme.
Child Migrant programme
The Child Migrant programme saw more than 130,000 children, some as young as three, sent abroad, many of whom were left with no knowledge about their background and family history. The practice continued as late as 1970. Although many of the children were classified as orphans, many were not and were often sent away without the knowledge of parents or relatives who had often given up their children because of extreme poverty in the belief that they would be well looked after in the UK. The UK is one of the only countries that has used the policy of child migration as part of its care policy. In the post-war era, some 7,000 children were shipped to Australia while New Zealand, Rhodesia and Canada received a combined total of about 1,300 children.
Many child migrants were sent overseas by specialist agencies such as the Fairbridge Society, established specifically for the purpose of migrating young children to populate the empire with "Good White British stock". Other well-known charities such as Barnados, the Methodist Church and the Salvation Army also supported the scheme. The Catholic Church now acknowledges that in many cases the migrant policy had a "profoundly adverse effect" on the children.
Some children faced appalling conditions in large institutions or were forced to work for long hours and little pay. Children as young as seven sent to institutions in Western Australia were involved in building works without adequate food or basic safety measures. Many were injured in building accidents. The standard of care they received fell far below that which they would have received in the UK. The whole programme was largely driven by considerations of cost as it was very much cheaper for children to be looked after in Commonwealth countries that in the UK.
UK apology
Gordon Brown has asked officials to liaise with survivors of the Child Migrants so that a statement can be issued in the new year. This comes at the same time as Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd prepares to deliver a national apology to ‘forgotten Australians’ which will recognise the mistreatment and ongoing suffering of some 500,000 people held in orphanages or children's homes between 1930 and 1970.
Child Migrant Trust
The Child Migrants Trust was established in 1987 and addresses the issues surrounding the compulsory deportation of children from Britain. Its founder, Margaret Humphreys, has travelled from the UK to Canberra for Mr Rudd's apology. She said: "The trust has campaigned for over 20 years for this kind and degree of recognition. For child migrants, of course, it has been all their lives and for their families. This is a moment - a significant moment - in the history of child migration. The recognition is vital if people are to recover."
Leigh Day and child migrants
Frances Swaine, partner and head of the human rights team at Leigh Day, has been involved in the child migrant case for a number of years. She gave
evidence to the Select Committee on Health who looked at the welfare of former child migrants
in Child migrants1998 and delivered a keynote paper at the 1st International Congress on Child Migration held in the US 2002, entitled Human Rights - What is just compensation for the "loss of life".
Frances Swaine said today:
"The former child migrants have had to wait a very long time for this apology. I am absolutely delighted on their behalves that Gordon Brown has taken a step no Prime Minister has felt able to take before, and accept full government responsibility for what has happened. Many child migrants have suffered in mental and physical health as a result of the total severing of contact from any family they might have in the United Kingdom, and we have fought alongside the Child Migrant Trust and the former child migrants themselves to get recognition for what happened to them and to provide government compensation for the hurt they have suffered and for their loss.”
If you would like to speak to
Frances about a possible claim for compensation please contact her on
020 7650 1249.
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