UK Child Emigrants Can Now Seek Reunion Funds

It now seems that thousands of former British child emigrants that were sent back to Australia before 1970 are now eligible for UK funding toward the cost of reuniting with their families. This funding is suppose to cover the practical costs of traveling to the UK and is available to any child emigrant sent under school leave age from Great Britain and Northern Ireland to countries like New Zealand, Australia and Zimbabwe.

The $10 million Family Restoration Fund was launched in the UK just this past Monday night. Valerie Amos, who is Britain's High Commissioner to Australia, said that the decision followed many years of struggle by former child emigrants to get recognition.
She went on to say that the fund has particular relevance in Australia. Right now Australia is home to up to 10,000 former child emigrants. She said that she had the honor of meeting many emigrants whose lives were blighted. The fund is another important milestone in recognizing past injustices.

The UK's child emigrant program operated from the late 1800's through to 1970. During this time, some 130,000 poor and orphaned children were sent to Common wealth countries overseas. Most of the kids that were sent were between the ages of 7 and 14.

The kids where promised a better life, but the reality was often harsh institutional life. A lot of the kids had to put up with hard labor, and many girls had to deal with sexual abuse. In February, former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued an official apology for this shameful child resettlement program. This apology came around the same time that he announced the compensation fund.