THE WELFARE OF FORMER BRITISH CHILD MIGRANTS
Main Focus of the Inquiry
23. Child migration to Canada effectively ceased
before the Second World War. The weight of our attention during
the inquiry has inevitably fallen on the post-Second World War
period and events in Australia and New Zealand in particular.
Most surviving former child migrants live in Australia or New
Zealand. Many remain in need of assistance and counselling arising
out of childhood hardship and abuse. Many also wish to establish
their own identities and make contact with any surviving relatives
in Britain. By concentrating on this group we intend no disrespect
and imply no lack of concern for former child migrants elsewhere.
We hope that our recommendations will be seen as constructive
and applicable to all former child migrants.
24. On our return from Australia and New Zealand,
we decided that our first priority should be to make recommendations
to the British Government as quickly as possible. The most frequently
encountered plea from former child migrants was that they should
gain access to records and be given assistance in arranging reunions
with surviving family members. Child migrants are themselves an
ageing population and their surviving parents are usually now
in extreme old age. Time is therefore short and urgent action
is required to facilitate appropriate reunions as soon as possible.
Even a small delay in processing information and making arrangements
to travel can lead to terrible personal trauma arising from the
death of the parent or other relative. There is a need to act
immediately to ensure that the maximum possible number of former
child migrants can benefit from meeting surviving members of their
families.
25. The timescale within which we have operated has
precluded us from attempting to produce a comprehensive history
of child migration. In any event, this would have been an exercise
in duplication. Whilst much research work remains to be carried
out, particularly with regard to the identification of records,
the history of child migration is much better understood than
it was two decades ago, thanks in large part to the books and
studies we have listed in paragraph 10 above.
26. As stated, our intention is to look to the future
and discuss practical steps which might help former child migrants.
In order to set the scene, however, we need to discuss a number
of issues of detail arising out of the child migration schemes
to New Zealand and Australia.
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