The process to move the youngsters from the scandal-tainted Lourdes Home in Gozo has started, and some children have already been placed in new homes in Malta, The Sunday Times has learnt.
Joe Gerada, Foundation for Social Welfare Services chief executive, said all the 10 children - aged eight to 15 - will be re-homed in the shortest time possible. However, he stressed, the emphasis was not on haste but to ensure the move was in the best interest of the child.
Alternative homes had to be found for the children after the Dominican nuns who ran the home in Għajnsielem decided they could no longer continue working with minors.
This decision emerged in the wake of a report, commissioned by the Gozo Curia, which established that physical abuse against some of the young residents had been committed in the past, throwing the home in the mire of controversy.
Mr Gerada said new placements had been found in Malta for all the children, one of whom was being reunited with a sibling.
Some had raised concern that moving the children from the environment they had grown used to in the Gozo village would be traumatic. However, Mr Gerada said geography was not an issue, and ultimately all the children originally hailed from Malta.
He also pointed out that this was not the first time children were being moved from one residential home to another. In fact, many Church homes only kept children until they reached a certain age, before moving them to a new home when they grew older.
Mr Gerada maintained that no decisions were taken without first consulting the children. He added that the youngsters were also taken to visit their new home on a number of occasions to get acquainted with the social workers and the other children living there before the move was finalised.
Moreover, the decision on the best time to move a child to his new home was being taken on a case by case basis, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all blanket decision.
Asked whether the children had accepted their fate, Mr Gerada said they had, although at times, certain circumstances went beyond one's control. He also explained that the foundation had come across cases in the past where children who had to be taken away from their parents, actually resisted the move.
"It is natural for children to be attached to their parents. And even though at times these are incompetent to take care of them, the children still ask to stay," he said.
Mr Gerada said children never like being taken away from their parents, but they were not stupid and eventually realised it was not in their best interest to remain with their parents.
Referring to a letter, which appeared in The Times on Thursday, where a reader claimed the children were "being torn away from their friends" and were "terrified by the unknown future that lies before them", Mr Gerada said at the end of the day the Dominican nuns had decided they could no longer care of the children.
"All the social workers did was respond very effectively and efficiently to find alternative homes for the children."
Without mentioning children's names, the letter referred to particular cases, but Mr Gerada would not be roped in to comment about the individual cases.
He did point out that if the people of Għajnsielem were so concerned about the welfare of the children, there was nothing stopping them from applying to become foster carers.