Apologise to Exiled Children, Say MPs Broken Families: Post-War `Misguided Social Policy' Led to Brutality, Sex Abuse and Isolation in Colonies

Glenda Cooper Social Affairs Correspondent, The Independent (London, England)

CHILDREN WHO were sent half way across the world as "cheap labour", often without their parents' knowledge or consent, must be given help to trace their family and visit the land of their birth, MPs said yesterday.

They urged the Government to make a formal apology to the child migrants, thousands of whom were sent to colonies as late as the 1960s, for the "irreversible, irrevocable damage . . . of this misguided social policy".

A report by the Commons health select committee found evidence of sexual and physical abuse, hardship and denial of basic human rights in the histories of the migrants who were sent to Australia, New Zealand and Canada to become labourers …

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Publication information: Article title: Apologise to Exiled Children, Say MPs Broken Families: Post-War `Misguided Social Policy' Led to Brutality, Sex Abuse and Isolation in Colonies. Contributors: Glenda Cooper Social Affairs Correspondent - Author. Newspaper title: The Independent (London, England). Publication date: July 31, 1998. Page number: 11. © 2009 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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