MIDDLEMORE ATLANTIC SOCIETY NB CANADA

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Prime Minister’s statement on Child Migration Schemes

24 February 2010

WITH PERMISSION MR SPEAKER I WISH TO MAKE A STATEMENT. UNTIL THE LATE 1960s, MR SPEAKER, SUCCESSIVE UK GOVERNMENTS HAD OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME SUPPORTED CHILD MIGRATION SCHEMES.

THIS INVOLVED CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS THREE BEING TRANSPORTED FROM BRITAIN TO AUSTRALIA, CANADA, NEW ZEALAND, SOUTH AFRICA AND ZIMBABWE.

IT WAS HOPED THAT THESE CHILDREN, WHO WERE AGED BETWEEN THREE AND 14, WOULD HAVE THE CHANCE TO FORGE A BETTER LIFE OVERSEAS.

BUT THE SCHEMES WERE MISGUIDED. IN TOO MANY CASES VULNERABLE CHILDREN SUFFERED UNRELENTING HARDSHIP AND THEIR FAMILIES LEFT BEHIND WERE DEVASTATED. THEY WERE MOSTLY SENT WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THEIR MOTHER OR FATHER. THEY WERE CRUELLY LIED TO AND TOLD THEY WERE ORPHANS - 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 THEIR CHILDREN HAD BEEN SENT.

MR SPEAKER, THE FORMER CHILD MIGRANTS SAY THEY FEEL THAT THIS PRACTICE WAS LESS TRANSPORTATION AND MORE DEPORTATION: A DEPORTATION OF THE INNOCENTS.

AND WHEN THEY ARRIVED OVERSEAS, MR SPEAKER – ALL ALONE IN THE WORLD - MANY OF OUR MOST VULNERABLE CHILDREN ENDURED HARSH CONDITIONS, NEGLECT AND ABUSE IN THE OFTEN COLD AND BRUTAL INSTITUTIONS WHICH RECEIVED THEM.

MR SPEAKER, THOSE CHILDREN WERE ROBBED OF THEIR CHILDHOOD: THOSE MOST PRECIOUS YEARS OF LIFE.

AND THE PAIN OF A LOST CHILDHOOD CAN LAST A LIFETIME. SOME STILL BEAR THE MARKS OF ABUSE; ALL STILL LIVE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF REJECTION. THESE WOUNDS WILL NEVER FULLY HEAL – AND FOR TOO LONG THE SURVIVORS HAVE BEEN ALL BUT IGNORED.

MR SPEAKER, WHEN I FIRST WAS MADE AWARE OF THIS UGLY PRACTICE I WROTE TO THE PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA TO URGE THAT WE DO MORE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE EXPERIENCES OF FORMER CHILD MIGRANTS.

AND SO IT IS RIGHT THAT TODAY WE RECOGNISE THE HUMAN COST ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SHAMEFUL EPISODE OF HISTORY – THIS FAILURE IN THE FIRST DUTY OF A NATION: TO PROTECT ITS CHILDREN.

SHORTLY, I SHALL BE MEETING A NUMBER OF FORMER CHILD MIGRANTS HERE IN THE PALACE OF WESTMINSTER TO LISTEN FIRST-HAND TO THEIR EXPERIENCES. AND AS PRIME MINISTER I WILL BE APOLOGISING ON BEHALF OF THE NATION. MR.SPEAKER, TO ALL THOSE FORMER CHILD MIGRANTS AND THEIR FAMILIES; TO THOSE HERE WITH US TODAY AND THOSE ACROSS THE WORLD - TO EACH AND EVERY ONE - I SAY TODAY WE ARE TRULY SORRY. THEY WERE LET DOWN. 

WE ARE SORRY THEY WERE ALLOWED TO BE SENT AWAY WHEN AT THEIR MOST VULNERABLE.

WE ARE SORRY THAT INSTEAD OF CARING FOR THEM, THIS COUNTRY TURNED ITS BACK.

WE ARE SORRY THAT THE VOICES OF THESE CHILDREN WERE NOT ALWAYS HEARD, THEIR CRIES FOR HELP NOT ALWAYS HEEDED

AND WE ARE SORRY THAT IT HAS TAKEN SO LONG FOR THIS IMPORTANT DAY TO COME AND FOR THE FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL APOLOGY THAT IS JUSTLY DESERVED.

MR SPEAKER, I WOULD LIKE TO RECOGNISE THE WORK OF THE MEMBER FOR ROTHER VALLEY [[KEVIN BARRON]] - AS CHAIR OF THE HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE - AND TO HIS PREDECESSOR THE FORMER MEMBER FOR WAKEFIELD [[DAVID HINCHLIFFE]].

AND FOR THEIR COMMITMENT TO THIS CAUSE, I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO PRAISE ALL PAST AND PRESENT MEMBERS OF THE COMMONS HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE AND THE ALL-PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP ON CHILD MIGRANTS.

I WOULD ALSO, MR SPEAKER, LIKE TO PAY TRIBUTE TO THE WORK OF THE ‘‘CHILD MIGRANTS TRUST’’ AND THE ‘‘INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER CHILD MIGRANTS AND THEIR FAMILIES’’ WHO HAVE CAMPAIGNED FOR JUSTICE FOR MANY YEARS.

AND I KNOW THAT THE HOUSE WILL JOIN ME IN PAYING SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO MARGARET HUMPHREYS, WHO FOUNDED THE ‘‘CHILD MIGRANTS TRUST’’ AND WHO HAS BEEN A CONSTANT CHAMPION OF - AND FIGHTER FOR - CHILD MIGRANTS AND THEIR FAMILIES.

FINALLY, MR SPEAKER, ALTHOUGH WE CANNOT UNDO THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WE CAN TAKE ACTION NOW TO SUPPORT PEOPLE TO REGAIN THEIR TRUE IDENTITIES; TO REUNITE WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES; AND TO GO SOME WAY TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE INFLICTED.

SO I CAN ANNOUNCE TODAY SUPPORT FOR FORMER CHILD MIGRANTS. THIS INCLUDES THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW £6 MILLION FAMILY RESTORATION FUND.

MR SPEAKER, THERE ARE MANY PAINFUL MEMORIES AS A RESULT OF THE CHILD MIGRATION SCHEMES AND FOR MANY TODAY’S APOLOGY COMES TOO LATE FOR THEM TO HEAR IT. WE CANNOT CHANGE HISTORY, BUT I BELIEVE THAT BY CONFRONTING THE FAILINGS OF THE PAST WE CAN SHOW WE ARE DETERMINED TO DO ALL WE CAN TO HEAL THE WOUNDS.

I COMMEND THIS STATEMENT TO THE HOUSE.