A monument to migrant children
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (325793)
Rockingham, Australia
October 23, 2017 2:08am CST
We had some time to spare when we were in Fremantle, Western Australia so we visited the Maritime Museum. Outside the museum was this commemorative statue which acknowledges the contribution made by British and Maltese children who were shipped out to Western Australia between the years of 1947 and 1953.
Over 3,200 children arrived unaccompanied. About 100 were from Malta and the rest from Britain. Not all were orphans. Some came from large families and some were sent in the hope that they’d have the chance of a better life.
There has been a lot of controversy about the migration of the children. A number were subjected to abuse in the various institutions and houses to which they were assigned while others have happier memories. It must have been a very daunting prospect to be sent out to a strange new land.
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25 responses
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
23 Oct 17
Orphaned children are always the off shoot of cruel and evil wars.
6 people like this
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
23 Oct 17
@JudyEv I just can't imagine what they went through, they became orphans because their dads served their country, then they were thrown to an unknown land not knowing what to face. Hope they became successful and those who suffered were compensated.
Do you happen to know any of them or their descendants? Just curious.
3 people like this
@JudyEv (325793)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Oct 17
@louievill I knew one lady who came out with her brother. Not all were orphans. She came from a large family and just accepted that her parents couldn't afford to keep them all. She was one of the lucky ones and had happy memories of her childhood. Some went back to England and managed to reconnect with relatives.
2 people like this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
23 Oct 17
I never knew this child migration occurred following the war.
5 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (45472)
• India
23 Oct 17
@JudyEv very terrible indeed! So were most children absorbed into the maiinstream, or were most of them exploited and abused?
2 people like this
@peavey (16936)
• United States
23 Oct 17
It's hard to think of children being off away from anything familiar, and then to be abused, too, is just so sad. Things like that have happened throughout history and continue to happen. It's nice that there is a statue to remind those who see it.
4 people like this
@toniganzon (72285)
• Philippines
23 Oct 17
Thinking about those who were abused, it gives me the chill.
3 people like this
@toniganzon (72285)
• Philippines
23 Oct 17
@JudyEv I really feel terrible when the victims are children.
1 person likes this
@goodgirl_kakay (453)
• Philippines
23 Oct 17
@JudyEv yes a few my hav been have their happy endings,while these children who suffered in the hands of twisted minds strike me most like you..the fact that i only read about the story in your discussion.
and thank you so much for that
1 person likes this
@ilocosboy (45157)
• Philippines
23 Oct 17
The hardship they suffer are really hard to think. Yet maybe, all the thing we can think of now is they are part in changing the course of our place.
4 people like this
@JudyEv (325793)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Mar 18
Yes, it was a long time ago and things just keep moving on.
@allen0187 (58444)
• Philippines
24 Oct 17
It is the children that suffer the most in times of crisis.
2 people like this
@allen0187 (58444)
• Philippines
24 Oct 17
@JudyEv we will never learn. To think that we work so hard for the future of our children and yet we do things that hurt them and leave them scars.
1 person likes this
@jobelbojel (34729)
• Philippines
23 Oct 17
I feel sorry about those who got abused. I wonder where are they now?
2 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (45472)
• India
23 Oct 17
@JudyEv perhaps local organizations and people can pitch in. However, with recessionary trends the world over, it gets quite tough.
1 person likes this
@jobelbojel (34729)
• Philippines
23 Oct 17
@JudyEv they are about my father's age. So I pray that they get their compensation.
2 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (45472)
• India
23 Oct 17
@LadyDuck preventing such migrations will need a major revamp of how systems work all over the world. However, often its the kings and the powerful ones in the developing nations- who have accumulated millions of wealth at the cost of others do not listen. They either kill people or are just plain ignorant in their own villas and air-conditioned complexes.
India is better off in this respect though a lot more remains to be done.
2 people like this
@peachpurple (13884)
• Malaysia
23 Oct 17
these monuments reminded us of the hardship the earlier ancestors had been through, we are lucky
2 people like this
@peachpurple (13884)
• Malaysia
23 Oct 17
@JudyEv yes, it is a pity indeed, we should appreciate what we have now
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325793)
• Rockingham, Australia
23 Oct 17
@peachpurple There is always someone worse off than we are.
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@goodgirl_kakay (453)
• Philippines
23 Oct 17
that true story actually send shivers down to my spine..
3 people like this
@Letranknight2015 (51523)
• Philippines
23 Oct 17
And now people wonder why they should be hostile towards people from the middle east who's escaping the war.
2 people like this
@Letranknight2015 (51523)
• Philippines
24 Oct 17
@JudyEv Although I got to admit some of them were JERKS for telling women to wear hijab or being abusive, most of them are still good civilians.
@JudyEv (325793)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Oct 17
I guess England had lost many fathers (and mothers) during the war and was struggling to rebuild itself. Not all those who came out were orphans. Those with big families sometimes sent one or more children out in the hope of a better future for them. Australia was a young nation, and a colony, that needed to increase its population. I suppose it seemed a good idea at the time.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43421)
• Denver, Colorado
25 Oct 17
Geez. I had no idea. I was stationed with a guy that grew up in Malta. He never brought that piece of history up. Wonder if he even knew about it.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325793)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Oct 17
I'd never heard about the Maltese children and we were surprised to see the two plaques side by side at the foot of the statue. The plaques didn't say to the memory of the British and Maltese but each mentioned just the one nation so I don't know if there was a bit of a row about it at the time.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (43421)
• Denver, Colorado
25 Oct 17
@JudyEv - The whole thing is just very sad.
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