Former child migrants

I am sad to hear the stunning silence of the Maltese government and the Catholic Church in Malta in regard to the issue of former child migrants sent to far away countries like Australia. This is in stark contrast to the generous attitude of the Australian government and the Catholic Church in Australia who have demonstrated an understanding of the issues, a compassion towards, a readiness to support and tangible assistance to these victims of political decisions.

The issues have been fully canvassed in your newspaper in the past and I do not intend to dwell on detail other than to say that about 300 Maltese children were "exported", like sacks of potatoes, from their country of origin to a foreign country with vague promises of a better future but little or no follow-up. The original intention may have been good but for some the outcome spelt disaster with physical, cultural, sexual and psychological abuse at the hands of the institutions to which they had been farmed out and which were meant to protect them.

C-MOM (Child Migrants of Malta) is a support group established in Australia to help, with others such as the Christian Brothers, those migrants who still carry with them the baggage of their unfortunate earlier years' experiences.

I want to emphasise that C-MOM is not about having showdowns with authorities, of initiating a litigation process to redress the trauma suffered by these migrants or of seeking to obtain compensation for its members. Its objective is to get recognition of these issues by the Maltese authorities and to erect a small plaque/monument in a prominent place in Malta to honour the child migrants and to record this event which is an integral part of Maltese history.

The Maltese authorities were not originally receptive to this meagre request but after protracted correspondence and personal briefings to the Prime Minister, Ministers for Foreign Affairs (past and present) by the chairman, David Plowman, we were pleased to obtain a promise from the Maltese government that our request would be granted within a couple of weeks.

That was two years ago. The promise has remained no more than just that. Promises have to be honoured. Unfulfilled promises are worse than no promises at all. Indeed, they are worse than insults since they carry with them the stigma of humiliation for the suffering party that its request is being treated as no more than a joke.

I urge the Maltese government and the Catholic Church in Malta to show the compassion that they preach about and expect others to show in similar circumstances. Honouring the promise will go a long way to obtaining the closure that is so much required to manage this traumatic experience.