Child sex abuse inquiry public hearings under way

BBC News
February 27, 2017

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39099778

The inquiry began with opening statements from chairwoman Prof Alexis Jay and lawyers Henrietta Hill QC and Aswini Weereratne QC

Buildings at Bindoon were constructed by migrant children

Former child migrants are to give "very emotional accounts" about the physical and sexual abuse they faced, the first public hearing in the independent inquiry into historical child abuse in England and Wales has been told.

Thousands of British children were sent to Australia and other parts of the British Empire up to 1974.

Inquiry counsel Henrietta Hill QC, said thousands faced "decades of pain".

A lawyer speaking on behalf of the UK government expressed "deep regret".

Ms Hill said claims of "systematic sexual abuse" in institutions and work environments would be heard.

The children, she said, were sent without consent of parents, wrongly told they were orphans, and denied basic details about their family backgrounds during their future lives.

The abuse scandal of the British children sent abroad

The first phase of the inquiry is looking at the way organisations have protected children outside the UK.

Thousands of children from poor families and the care system were sent to parts of the British Empire, including also New Zealand, Canada and what was Southern Rhodesia.

Between 7,000 and 10,000 were moved to Australia after World War Two. They were recruited by religious institutions from both the Anglican and Catholic churches, or well-meaning charities, including Barnardo's and the Fairbridge Society, with the aim of giving them a better life.

Many, however, went on to suffer physical and sexual abuse in homes and so-called farm schools run by religious orders and charities.

Allegations children were picked by paedophiles to travel abroad and claims of a cover-up are expected to be made.

Aswini Weereratne QC, representing the Child Migrants Trust (CMT) support organisation, said this " long overdue inquiry" would hear of a "crushing catalogue of sexual abuse, deprivation, violence and abuse".

She said the UK government "does not seek to defend" what she described as a "shameful period in the UK's recent history".

Ms Weereratne said the inquiry will hear from 22 former child migrants - their average age was nine when deported and one was aged only three or four years old.

The abuse that some of the children sent abroad were said to have suffered included "torture, rape and slavery", Ms Weereratne said.

Opening the inquiry, chairwoman Prof Alexis Jay said the task of the panel is to examine the extent to which public and private institutions have failed to protect children from sexual abuse in the past.

Speaking on behalf of former child migrant Oliver Cosgrove, who was sent to Australia in 1941, Imran Khan said: "(It was) a scheme to populate the empire with good, white British stock and which led to the physical, emotional and sexual abuse of countless children, many thousands of miles away from their families.

He added: "The fact that the witness statements are so similar in the accounts they give of abuse can mean only one thing: This was a systematic and institutional problem."

One of those giving evidence is David Hill who aged 12, was sent overseas with his two brothers to the Fairbridge Farm School in Western Australia.

Speaking at the hearing, he said: "We'll never be able to undo the great wrong that was done to these children. But what is important to the survivors of sexual abuse is where this inquiry is satisfied with the evidence - name the villains.

"Many of them are beyond the grave and therefore beyond the law but it would bring a great deal of the comfort to the people who as children were victims of these children if they were named and shamed."

In 2009, the Australian government apologised for the cruelty shown to the child migrants. Britain also made an apology in 2010. The apology contained no specific mention of sexual abuse.

For the government, Samantha Leek QC said: "Child migration is wrong. It should not have been sanctioned or facilitated...

"The lifelong consequences for those involved are a matter of deep and sincere regret."

Clifford Walsh, 72, claims he was raped and beaten at a Catholic institution, known as the Bindoon Boys Town, which was run by the Christian Brothers.

He recalls one brother luring him into his room with the promise he could have some sweet molasses - normally fed to cows - where he was abused.

"We had no parents, we had no relatives, there was nowhere we could go, these brothers - these paedophiles - must have thought they were in hog heaven," said Mr Walsh.

He said he was abused at least 30 times, including by one brother who forced him to perform oral sex.

He says the abuse has had a lasting impact as he does not like to be touched by anyone, male or female.

A £6m family restoration fund was set up to allow the migrants to travel to the UK and ministers are now considering extending it.

The independent inquiry was set up after the death of DJ Jimmy Savile in 2011 when hundreds of people came forward to say he had abused them as children.

The hearings are taking place at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in central London, with the first phase concerning Australia expected to last 10 days.