_WORLD WATCH______________________________
________________Australia_______________
Apology to migrants
Children from Britain, Malta suffered
Australia’s bishops have apologized to the British and Maltese child migrants to the country who suffered abuse in Church institutions between 1938 and the mid-1960s.
Investigations into the migration program that sent 1,000 British and 310 Maltese children to Catholic schools in Australia have said it resulted in “suffering and dislocation.”
The bishops’ conference joined in that assessment. “The Australian Catholic Bishop’s Committee for Migrants and Refugees and the Executive of the Australian Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes apologize to all those men and women who suffered because of their experiences as child migrants brought to Catholic institutions,” they said. “We are painfully aware that some children suffered physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and this is a deep source of shame and regret for us.”
The bishops’ statement announced that a fund of $500,000 had already been allocated to help former child migrants travel back to their countries of origin, especially in order to meet their relatives. Another $500,000 is to be spent on counseling and related services for the victims.