Child Migrants Programme Analysis

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Child Migrants Programme and an Imperialistic Stranglehold In everyday life, there is a disconnect between the past and the present. We focus on what is happening now and in the near future, which is necessary for survival. That gap is starting to close, with resources to study history becoming more and more prevalent as time goes on. We seem to view events that happened in the past as finite dates and times, and we do not take into account how actions of the past reverberate in the present. As World War II veterans become older and become less able to pass on their stories, it may seem like the book is closed on that part of time, when the repercussions still affect many countries today. The same goes for the Child Migrants Programme that …show more content…

A 73 year old man, Ron Grant, found it difficult to recount his time in a Sydney institution. It may seem like a tragedy like this would heal over time, but that is not the case when sexual abuse is involved. Clearly, 40 years is not close to the amount of time needed to heal from cases like this. Sexual abuse is extant, an act that lasts through generations. Grant tells of not being able to give his children proper affection, since he never learned how and was traumatized by what was done to him. The treachery Ron Grant faced not only affects him, but his children (Shears 2010). Sexual abuse goes beyond just the physical act, it gives the victim a warped sense of emotions and interpersonal connections. This gives victims a mindset that is so distorted that, to no fault of their own, can affect everyone close to …show more content…

A confession like this one helps to let victims know that they were in fact wronged, and the laws at that time were invalid and encroached on basic human rights. Since the apology and subsequent acknowledgement of the Child Migrants Programme came relatively early, there is still time to start a healing process and make an effort to reverse the damage done. On the other hand, irreversible damage was done and is in the form of the suppression of a people by “importing” more unwilling citizens of the invasive country. Through these events 40 years ago, the British Empire alienated a generation of people for the sake of imperialism. Even though the mid-twentieth century may seem like the colonization period was over, but it was measures like the Child Migrants Programme that solidified the British stranglehold on the continent of

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