It doesn't take much to exact love: sometimes just an apolgy.
I was deeply moved this past week when the sovereign nation of Australia made a formal apology to it's Aboriginal citizens. According to news source BBC: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised in parliament to all Aborigines for laws and policies that 'inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss'. He singled out the "Stolen Generations" of thousands of children forcibly removed from their families.
The apology was made after "a National Inquiry was set up in 1995. Its 1997 Report ‘Bringing them Home’ contained harrowing evidence. It found that forcible removal of indigenous children was a gross violation of human rights which continued well after Australia had undertaken international human rights commitments. It was racially discriminatory, because it only applied to Aboriginal children on that scale, and It was an act of genocide contrary to the Convention on Genocide, (which forbids ‘forcibly transferring children of [a] group to another group’ with the intention of destroying the group.) The Report made 54 recommendations, including opening of records, family tracing and reunion services and the need for reparations’ (including acknowledgement and apology by Governments and institutions concerned, restitution, rehabilitation and compensation).
The Government has stated there will be no compensation fund. People of the Stolen Generation have started legal actions for compensation against the Government ."
Is is my sincere hope that the Australian government implements the 54 recommendations. We'll be praying for their success, but in the meantime...
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