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| home | news lVictim of Australia’s ‘Stolen Generations’ appeals for reparations - UN human rights Working Group hears testimony of Aboriginal woman18 May 2001 - Minority Rights (UK) - Media Release - The UN Working Group on Minorities which is meeting in Geneva this week heard the testimony of Audrey Ngingali Kinnear, an Indigenous woman from Australia, who raised the issue of reparation for the ‘Stolen Generations’. She stated that ‘the “Stolen Generations” are the indigenous people who were, and are still today, victims of Australia’s white Australia assimilation policies. Policies that forcibly and under duress removed mixed race children before the age of 6 years from their mothers and institutionalised them to exterminate all traces of the Aboriginal culture.’ She quoted a record of the 1937 meeting of Aboriginal Protectors in Canberra which included a sentence from A.O. Neville, Commissioner of Native Affairs in Western Australia who stated that ‘if we remove the “half-castes”, the full bloods will die out and in 50 years time, Australia will not have an Aborigines problem.’ Eight generations of Aboriginal children were removed for assimilation. The policy continued well into the 1970s. Participants at the Working Group were visibly moved when she said ‘I am one of those children. I was removed when 4 years of age, institutionalised and separated from my family for many years. I was 28 years of age when I made contact with my mother again. This has impacted on my identity, language, self-esteem and the loss of family and cultural community. The loss and separation is something that I have to live with for a lifetime and will impact on my children and grandchildren.’ She continued ‘Reparation is for the terrible wrongs inflicted through lack of respect for equality of the human rights of indigenous Aboriginal peoples by colonial domination. Many children were sexually and physically abused in government and church run institutions, where they were placed for care. As a result, Aboriginal people today have a life expectancy 28 years less than other Australians. Aboriginal peoples also have high levels of mental illness and a high infant mortality rate. Although Aboriginal people are only two per cent of the total Australian population of 19 million, the prison incarceration rate and substance misuse is very high, sometimes 50 per cent in some communities. These are a direct result of the assimilation policies.’ Audrey Kinnear told the Chairperson of the UN Working Group on Minorities, Mr Asbjorn Eide, that reparation will aim to help heal the wounds resulting from forced removal policies, loss of identity, culture, language, land and cultural community. ‘This will be an historic and symbolic gesture that will help our people leave behind this painful chapter. It will also enable non-indigenous Australians to leave behind their guilt. Only then we can move forward together as a nation.’ Note for editors 1. The UN Working Group on Minorities, which is a sub group of the UN Commission on Human Rights, is holding its Seventh Session at the Palais des Nations in Geneva from the 14th to the 18th of May 2001. Minority Rights Group International works with over a hundred minority and indigenous partner organisations from around the world. The views expressed by partner organisations do not necessarily reflect the views and perspectives of MRG. However we strive to ensure that the voices and concerns of marginalized and often invisible minority communities are heard at international, national, and local levels. Minority Rights Group International works to secure the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and to promote cooperation and understanding between communities Media relase from: Minority Rights (UK) related links :
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