I read with interest the article ‘Migrant children in Australia ‘treated as baby convicts’ (September 2). The article is of interest to Malta because it is known that more than 300 children emigrated to Australia between 1950 and 1965 under the child migration to Australia scheme. The aim of the programme was to help orphaned and neglected children in Malta find a new life in Australia by putting them in Catholic institutions there.
The largest number of child migrants were boys who were placed in institutions in Western Australia and Queensland run by the De La Salle Brothers (the Christian Brothers). On April 26,1950, the authorities reported that the Maltese child migrants who arrived in Perth were “of good physique, very neatly attired and well-mannered – it appeared obvious that much care had been taken in selecting these migrants”.
The practice of sending poor or orphaned children to English colonies was started in England in 1618. To a certain extent, it was deemed throughout these very long years as a very successful project because it gave destitute children in England (up to the 20th century with very little hope of survivival beyond their teenage years) the chance of starting a new life in new countries brimming with vitality and energy.
What is surprising is that these schemes continued unabated for so long, well into the enlightened age of the 20th century. In Malta, they came to an end in 1965 and only after Prime Minister George Borg Olivier (who, to his great credit, always looked disapprovingly on the scheme) decided to stop the related government subsidy.
It was reported that many of these children experienced lack of proper care and maltreatment in the institutions to which they were assigned. Many of them carried their mental scars throughout their lives. In November 2009, the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, formally apologised to these “forgotten” Australians. In February 2010, Gordon Brown, then Prime Minister of the UK, followed suit. In Malta, Lawrence Gonzi, as Prime Minister, in March 2009 unveiled a monument in the shape of a paper boat at Valletta Waterfront to commemorate the Maltese migrant children.
It is interesting to note that in the Times of Malta article there is a glaring contrast in the reports by the official inspectors who visited the Catholic institutions hosting the said children. On one visit by British inspectors in the 1940s, it was stated that many of the children’s homes in Australia provided much better prospects than in Northern Ireland (from where the childen originated) and were suitable enough.
In another report, some years later, the inspectors criticised the isolation of homes and the separation of siblings and noted that the quality of staff employed and childcare methods were below required standards.
It is very evident from the many oral and written submissions made before parliamentary commissions in Australia and the UK that abuse had taken place in these institutions, in a number of cases even in a rampant manner, rape and torture not excluded.
The children in question had almost lost all contact with their relatives (if any) in the country of origin. They had no one to turn to and found themselves helpless when faced with the abusers.
The practice of sending poor or orphaned children to English colonies was started in England in 1618
However, some of the evidence is so spectacular that it is hard to believe altogether. Flawed memories, sensationalism, self-promotion and self-pitying on the part of some witnesses is very obvious. For example, Brother Paul Francis Keaney, the Christian Brother who for many years was in charge of some of the most-quoted Australian schools in the child-migration saga, was hailed at the time of his death in 1953 as a hero of youth, much like Fr Edward Flanagan in the 1938 film Boys’ Town, played by Spencer Tracy.
Following the popular film, Bro. Keaney’s school in Bindoon, Perth, was named ‘Boys’ Town’ and he was awarded the MBE and the ISO. After his death, a statue representing him as an inspired teacher was erected in the grounds of the school. Now, under the current witch-hunt, his name has been tarnished to the extent that it would take a real brave person to stand up to his memory.
The Christian Brothers also made their apology but state: “In apologising, however, we entreat people not to reflect adversely on the majority of Brothers and their co-workers of the era who went about their work with integrity and deep regard for the children entrusted to their care.”
I personally can vouch for this having been schooled by the Christian Brothers in the 1950s when some of the quoted abuses allegedly took place in their Australian schools. I have some of the happiest memories of the times.
True, the mentality was different. Corporal punishment was, for example, a common feature of schools. Some of the teachers used the rod quite frequently and with some uncalled for energy. Never, however, would I call this, even in my wildest immagination, anything but normal discipline as practised at the time.