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CHILD MIGRATION APOLOGY UNITES COMMONS
03 March 2010
South West Bedfordshire MP Andrew Selous has told the Prime Minister how shocked he was to learn that this country was still sending British children to Australia where they were often cruelly treated as late as 1967 the same year that he travelled to Australia to be with his grandparents when he was five years old.
Until the late 1960s, successive UK Governments had over a long period of time supported child migration schemes. They involved children as young as three being transported from Britain to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The hope was that those children, who were aged between three and 14, would have the chance to forge a better life overseas, but the schemes proved to be misguided. In too many cases, vulnerable children suffered unrelenting hardship and their families left behind were devastated. They were sent mostly without the consent of their mother or father. They were cruelly lied to and told that they were orphans and that their parents were dead, when in fact they were still alive. Some were separated from their brothers and sisters, never to see one another again. Names and birthdays were deliberately changed so that it would be impossible for families to reunite. Many parents did not know that their children had been sent out of this country.
Speaking afterwards, Andrew Selous said “Most people will be very shocked that these children were treated so appallingly as part of official British policy and I hope that there will never be a repeat of anything similar. The issue for us today is child trafficking with over 1,000 trafficked children estimated to be in the UK today.”
The exchange in the Commons reads:
Andrew Selous (South-West Bedfordshire): This was a very poignant statement for me, because, at the age of five-in 1967-I travelled to Australia for several months with my mother, who was an Australian citizen, to spend a very happy time with my grandparents. It is truly shocking to think that, at the same time, this country was officially sending children against their will to Australia where they had such a grim time. May I say that sorry is often the hardest word and commend the Prime Minister and my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition for what they have said today? It was the right thing.
The Prime Minister: The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. We have got to be prepared to say that this was wrong and completely unjustifiable, and do what we can to repair at least some of the damage done.
