Summary: The true story of how an English social worker discovered how thousands of British children had been ‘exported’ to distant lands, often without the consent or knowledge of their parents, and the suffering those children endured for decades, being undocumented, feeling unwanted and often abused by those who were supposed to care for them.
Thoughts: Unbelievable! Not in the sense that the story isn’t true, but unbelievable that the British, Australian, Canadian and other seemingly ‘progressive’ governments and charities could arrogantly and uncaringly decide that stealing children and shipping them off to somewhere on the other side of the world was an acceptable way to populate these countries. The sheer egotism and disdain of the governments involved was hideous. Even when the stories were coming to light, with evidence, they all wiped their hands of the issue and decided it was nothing to do with them. Margaret’s perseverance and continued battle to bring justice to those affected makes her worthy of much more than the belated Order of Australia. The fact that the British and Australian governments finally apologised, formally, is such an anti-climax. What a horror story – made more so because it actually happened. Thank goodness for people like Margaret – otherwise these poor souls would never have discovered their identity, background, and in some heart-warming cases, living relatives.
