Australia's forgotten children

In a recent report on children held in detention a recent Australian Human Rights Commission report describes their Forgotton Children.

"The evidence documented in this Report demonstrates unequivocally that prolonged detention of children leads to serious negative impacts on their mental and emotional health and development. This is supported by robust academic literature.

It is also clear that the laws, policies and practices of Labor and Coalition Governments are in serious breach of the rights guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also suggests in his opening address to the Human Rights Council that Australia’s policy of offshore processing and boat turn backs is ‘leading to a chain of human rights violations, including arbitrary detention and possible torture following return to home countries’".

 

It resonated strongly with our own research on the Forgotten Children of Ukraine:

In our experience it had been the hostility of NGOs which presented one of the greatest obstacles. In so many cases, we observe the protection of self interest came first.  Keeping silent and keeping others silent

The day we become silent about things that matter.