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THIS SITE IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF OUR SISTER VALERIE ANN STACEY |
           For U.K Family tracing and general Family History Research enquiries at very reasonable rates, contact Jacqueline Pollard
If
you have a story, a grievance or an experience which you would like featured on
this home page, please contact:
Your suggestions and comments are welcome and can be sent to: comments@childmigrants.com For all other enquiries, please contact: enquiries@childmigrants.com CLAN Care leavers of Australia Network Clan was set up to bring all care leavers of Australia together. Some Australian children shared a similar fate to the child migrants. Clan exists to fight for rights and justice. They have a large library of books which can be borrowed, they also supply information on how to access records within Australia. Many of the Australian children suffered abuse and until Clan was set up to fight for recognition and justice little was done for these former Ward children. Clan publishes a regular newsletter which features both information and personal stories together with various contacts. Clan exists for all care leavers including former child migrants. Clan now has a web site www.angelfire.com/folk/clan-aust Clan can be contacted at Address of founder. Leonie Sheedy P.O Box 164 Georges Hall New South Wales 2198
Web Site produced by ACW (Docter2k@Hotmail.com)
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what did I do wrong? A question asked on a daily basis, for more than 50 years, by hundreds of men and women now in their sixties and seventies. They mostly live in Australia but some are in New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and Zimbabwe. They know that they were not born in those places but in Britain, and cannot understand how as young children they came to be alone in a strange country apparently with no living relatives. The straightforward answer to that
question is you did nothing wrong! You simply had the misfortune to
be one of those British children picked out for inclusion in the Child Migration
Scheme. The removal of children from orphanages and institutions in
Britain and transportation of these unfortunates to other parts of the world
began as far back as 1618. The acceleration of the 'Scheme' following WW2 was due to the fear expressed by the Australian Government that their country might be overrun by the Asiatic peoples to the North. The Government therefore requested that British children be sent out (provided they were of good white stock) to populate the country. This request was wholeheartedly endorsed by Church authorities in Australia, particularly the Catholic Church. For example, in 1946 the Archbishop of Adelaide requested the migration of British girls to fill the orphanage in Adelaide. Similar requests were made by other Church figures and not just from the Catholic Church. The British Government gave the 'green light' and the race was on between various Churches and other Institutions in Britain to send out as many children as possible of the 'right faith'. The method of selection, and monitoring of method, was slipshod and took no account of the children's feelings. In a large number of cases the only authority given for transporting a child (effectively for life!) was the signature of a priest or a nun. Alterations were made to many migration documents, falsifying them so that the chosen child could be emigrated. Very many cases are recorded where the child had one or more living parents, as well as brothers and sisters but those immediate relatives had no idea of the migration. In several cases children were migrated against the expressed wishes of the mother or father. In the years following migration the children were told they had no living relatives in Britain and that their whole life was their future in Australia. These lies were promulgated by both Governments and by the various bodies responsible for sending children out. This lead to the overwhelming belief in the minds of these child migrants that they must have done something very wrong that they should be separated from their families in such a swift and permanent way. That belief has stayed with them for all of these years. Prior to emigration, promises were made to the children that once in Australia (or one of the other destinations) they would be put for adoption into loving, caring families. The sun would shine every day and they would be very well fed and clothed. The reality was shockingly different. Having arrived on the dockside following their voyage the children were separated by sex, regardless of any brother/sister relationships, and carted off to the various orphanages and institutions which would become their new homes. Once there, the discipline imposed on them was so harsh it would be today the subject of criminal proceedings, and should have been then, most of the children were constantly hungry and they were physically and sexually abused. This abuse was widespread throughout the orphanages run by the Catholic 'Orders' such as the Christian Brothers and the Sisters of Mercy. Their acts were neither Christian, nor merciful. Boy migrants allocated to the Christian Brothers were used as slave labour to erect the very buildings which would house them, and which were effectively monuments to the Brothers in charge. Injuries and illnesses were taken as a sign of weakness, or lack of faith, and were virtually ignored. The slightest perceived lack of discipline led to beatings and whippings. The raping of boys by the Brothers was commonplace and repeated. The traumas caused by this treatment stayed with many boys for the rest of their lives. Whilst incidents of sexual abuse against girl migrants were relatively rare, the harsh discipline, beatings and floggings administered by the Sisters were equally commonplace and were regarded as an everyday part of their lives by the girls. A certain amount of schooling was given to both boys and girls but once they reached fifteen years old they were put out of the institutions and into domestic work or farm work. It must be remembered that a great many of the child migrants were previously well schooled in Britain and of high intelligence. Their prospects, had they been left in the country into which they were born, would have been very good. However the Australian Government had it's wishes granted by filling parts of the country with good white British stock, and the various churches managed to keep up their ratios of people of the right faith. This whole horrific Scheme remained virtually secret until the late 1980's when it came to light, by chance, and by the hard work of Margaret Humphries and the Child Migrants Trust based in Nottingham, England. Since then a large number of former child migrants have found close relatives back in Britain and have been joyfully reunited with them. The purpose of this site is to help find child migrants or families by providing information, links to other organizations and a free message posting service for anyone who wishes to use it. Following the publicity created in the 1980's and 1990's the British and Australian Governments made some attempts at investigating the whole Scheme and the way it was set up and run. Neither Government has issued a public apology or made serious efforts at recompense. The current attitude of the various bodies responsible for choosing and sending the children is best summed up by the following extract from a letter of 28th June 20000 from Bishop Howard Tripp, Episcopal President of the Catholic Child Welfare Council.
The 1901 Census Online service is now available 24 hours a day 7 days a week, as a full Internet service. THE 1901 CENSUS ONLINE Former British and Maltese Child Migrant's Travel Fund Eligibility CriteriaFunding is available for visits to family members and other relatives, including aunts and uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces; and for other related purposes, such as visits to family graves. Funding will be available for all former child migrants, including former child migrants from Malta, and those who may have undertaken previous visits at their own expense. In exceptional circumstances, travel funding will be provided for a spouse, child or other person as an accompanying carer, subject to medical certificate. Priority will be given to the following groups:
Note:
Subject to demand, the government will review the eligibility criteria in subsequent years and possibly broaden it to include further visits by former child migrants who have received assistance either through the British Travel Fund or the Australian travel fund for reunion visits. Details on how to access the Child Migrant's Travel Fund will be made available once the Fund Administrator has been appointed. Former child migrants, who would like to receive a detailed application package when it is available, may send their contact details to the Director, Settlement Planning and Support Section, Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, PO Box 25, Belconnen, ACT, 2616.
BARNARDO'S CLASS ACTION The Class Action was commenced on the 13th June 2002 against Barnardo's on behalf of the class of persons whom Barnardo's emigrated to Canada and placed in Ontario, who are alive or who died on or after June 13th 2000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO THE COMMITTEE'S REPORT INTO CHILD MIGRATION- 13 MAY 2002 (click on link below) http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/clac_ctte/child_migrat/index2.htm And then click on PDF or WORD Format -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Australian citizenship-former British child migrants http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/1014i.pdf ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- a child migrant's experience
Pat Carlson (Russell) Senate Community Affairs Reference HERE YOU CAN ACCESS THE REPORT WWW.APH.GOV.AU/SENATE/COMMITTEE/CLAC_CTTE/CHILD_MIGRAT/INDEX.HTM
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