Child Migrant UK Redress report

Former child migrants and other members of the community may have heard of recent reports of further redress to former child migrants becoming available from the British Government.

Below is information from Mr Mervyn Humphreys, Assistant Director, Child Migrant Trust taken from a blog post.

The UK Government Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) published its report 1 March, 2018 after investigating child migration from Britain. This may well be seen as another memorable milestone on the long road to recognition and justice for UK former child migrants, the majority of whom in the post war period were shipped to Australia. IICSA is concerned with children who were abused in England or Wales and children from either country who were abused abroad.

The report concludes:

• Child migration was a deeply flawed government policy that was badly implemented by numerous organisations which sent children as young as five years old abroad.
• Successive British governments failed to ensure there were sufficient measures in place to protect children from all forms of abuse, including sexual abuse. The policy was allowed to continue despite evidence over many years showing that children were suffering.

IICSA produced three recommendations:

1. That all surviving former child migrants should receive the same redress payment from the UK Government which was ultimately responsible for child migration schemes. The amount of such a payment would be decided by the Government and should begin after 12 months, if this first recommendation is accepted and implemented.
2. That those agencies or charities involved in child migration which have not made an apology to former child migrants should do so now. However, the Inquiry did not regard another government apology as necessary.
3. All agencies which hold records on former child migrants should preserve such records and follow best practice in record keeping.

You can view and download a copy of the full report here: Child Migrant Report March 2018.