Apology now expected from Church

Maltese child migrants have welcomed the government's formal apology for the abuse they suffered after they were shipped to Australia over 50 year ago but are now hoping the Church will follow suit.

"At long last. I'm so happy the government recognised and understood what we've been through. It brings us closer to closure," said former child migrant Joseph Azzopardi, speaking from his home in Australia.

"One thing that worries me is that the Church of Malta has really washed its hands of it. It should now come forward and recognised its involvement. Some form of apology has to come across."

Now 63, Mr Azzopardi was 12 years old when a parish priest approached his mother in Malta and suggested she send him to be schooled by the Christian Brothers in Australia.

He ended up being one of 301 local youngsters sent to Australia through a scheme organised by Maltese political and ecclesiastical authorities in the 1950s and 1960s. It was aimed at securing the children a better education and brighter future.

But, on arrival there, many were exploited for cheap labour and a number of them also suffered physical and sexual abuse. Children from the UK and Ireland suffered the same fate.

Two years ago a memorial to Maltese child migrants was unveiled at Valletta Waterfront, from where the children had originally left.

During Wednesday's Parliamentary sitting, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said it was time for the country to apologise for the suffering endured by the children. He made the statement, which was endorsed by Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat, before the opening on Sunday of a convention of Maltese who live abroad.

"As a mature society, we recognise that despite good intentions, there were many of these child migrants who underwent hardship. The government feels this is an appropriate moment for Parliament to apologise for the hardship which these Maltese brethren endured," Dr Gonzi said.

The apology followed that of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last month and that of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who apologised in November.

While simple words might not solve the troubled past of the child migrants, Mr Azzopardi said these apologies meant that the governments recog-nised that the abuse had happened.

When the children had tried speaking up they were ignored by the police and authorities who thought of them as "naughty boys" lying against the respected Christian Brothers, Mr Azzopardi said.

Their plight was finally recognised in 1999 when child migrants took their case to court and the Australian Senate found the Christian Brothers guilty of failing in their duty of care.

"I know that Malta had no way of knowing what was going to happen, but at the same time, it would have still been their responsibility - because of our age - to keep an eye on us while we were here," Mr Azzopardi said adding Malta should offer some form of compensation to the victims.

Turning to the Church in Malta, he insisted it should admit to its responsibilities.

"Unless the Church is willing to recognise that it participated in this scheme, they're gonna live a lie," he said.

Paul Calleja, a founding member of the Child Migrants of Malta Association, in Australia, shared his views.

"Many child migrants would agree that the Church should apologise... It was the Church in Malta that enticed children to join the Christian Brothers so it played a big role in all this," he said.

Without taking a stand on the matter, Monsignor Philip Calleja, head of the Emigrants' Commission, said he could only condemn any wrongdoing, if any.

When asked what he meant, he said he did not have any evidence of the abuse and pointed out that some of the children, most of whom were orphans, had grown up to be successful.

Moreover, he said, they were shipped there with the best of intentions, after which some of their parents decided to join them.

The Curia was yesterday contacted and asked if it planned to make an apology. The spokesman did not reply by the time of writing.

When asked the same question two years ago, a Curia spokesman had said: "We obviously regret and condemn any abuses that might have happened abroad to any of these children. But we know that the members of the Church in Malta who helped in this project worked not only in good faith but also in the interest of the children concerned, as was understood at that time."