Australia "Stolen Generations"

1910 - 1970s

Between 1910 and the late 1970s about 100,000 Aboriginal children were abducted from their families. The government believed that Aboriginals had no future as a people and advised that their children should be fully integrated into white society and brought up according to white rules, customs and traditions. The general aim was to ?assimilate? or ?breed out? the aboriginal race. Many children were forced to grow up in orphanages or foster families, or were raised by white missionaries. Children were physically and sexually abused in addition to being used as unpaid labour.

Only as late as 2008 did the Australian government, led by PM Rudd, officially apologise, and the apology was not made for the genocide but rather for the ?collateral? damage inflicted. To date, no compensation or repatriation moves have been made to help the ?stolen generations.?

It is to be noted that in PM Rudd?s speech, the word ?genocide? was not itself mentioned.