Opinion | Editorials
An important and long-term step
The recently elected Labor government in Australia will formally apologise to the "stolen generation" of Aborigines forcibly removed from their families.
- Gulf News
- Published: 00:52 February 1, 2008
The recently elected Labor government in Australia will formally apologise to the "stolen generation" of Aborigines forcibly removed from their families.
"Stolen generation" is not an understatement. In the past century Aboriginal children were removed from their families and sent to institutions run by churches or the state or were adopted into white families. Some were snatched from their mother's arms; others were taken under the guise of court orders or were removed by stealth.
An apology is the least these people deserve - but it is not enough. Australia has been a land of opportunity for people from all over the world yet the descendents of the country's first inhabitants have generally not benefited from the country's successes. The Aborigines were, and still are, marginalised. They are the forgotten people. The apology, to be issued on February 13, will help place them in the collective memory. But more is needed. Jobs and opportunities must be made available to them as they are to other Australians, as well as the provision of adequate access to education; these are important long-term steps. An apology must not be seen as an end but as a beginning to right a terrible wrong.
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