Maltese child migrants to get Australian apology

A historic apology will be given by the Australian government to former child migrants from the UK and Malta who were abused during the last century while under the state's care.

Over 300 Maltese migrants, mostly boys, had been sent on their own to Australia in the 1950s and 1960s in the hope they would be educated and lead better lives. The scheme had been endorsed by the Maltese government and the Church and was done with the consent of the children's parents and guardians.

However, it eventually emerged that the children had worked like slaves, were not educated and a number of them were even physically and sexually abused.

The Australian Minister of Families and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin made the an-nouncement about the apology last Sunday when speaking on the anniversary of two reports published in 2001 and 2004 that had advised the government to make the apology.

"By the end of 2009, the Australian government will issue a formal statement of acknowledgment and apology, on behalf of the nation, to forgotten Australians and former child migrants," Ms Macklin said.

"Many former child migrants and other children who were in institutions, their families and the wider community have suffered from a system that did not adequately provide for or protect children in its care," she added.

Australian news reports said the apology might be delivered jointly by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull.

Former Prime Minister John Howard had disagreed with making an apology for the mistakes of previous governments. But Mr Rudd has already formally apologised to Aborigines for injustices, where children had been "stolen" from their families to be raised as Caucasians.

In March last year, a memorial to Maltese child migrants was unveiled at Valletta Waterfront, from where the children had originally left. The large paper-boat structure was designed by architects Rune Jacobson and David Drago and was inaugurated just before the general election after years of campaigning by Maltese-Australian victims.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had said he was sorry for those who had suffered and hoped to help close some of their wounds.

During the same ceremony, Archbishop Paul Cremona had said the Church sincerely regretted "what was negative in the experience" and bound itself in solidarity.

In 2005, The Times had interviewed Joseph Azzopardi, one of the former migrants who had spoken of his physical, emotional and attempted sexual abuse at the hands of the Christian Brothers.

He said he used to be tied to the stairs with the water tap just out of reach to be ridiculed and had also seen a young boy being lifted from the ground by his ears. He was never given letters by his mother and those he wrote to her were never sent.

"But when they tried to abuse me sexually I broke a chair on one of the brothers. As a result, I nearly got killed with the beating I got. I was 14 at the time," he said.

He had accused the Maltese Church of trying to hide from the fact that it was responsible for sending the former child migrants to Australia.