Struggle For Custody Of Orphaned Boy

Press, Volume C, Issue 29638, 7 October 1961, Page 11

Struggle For Custody Of Orphaned Boy

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

LONDON, October 6. An international tug-o’-war is going on over * •mall boy who may be an Australian by birth. He is Joey Irag, aged four, whose Hungarian parents were killed recently in a road accident at Terracina, 70 miles from Rome, the “Daily Mirror” reported. He is recovering from crash injuries in hospital. Hungary claims he should be sent back to “the homeland.” The Vatican State asks that he should be kept in the West and given a Christian education.

The Commonwealth is interested because he may be Australian or English by birth.

It is believed that the boy’s parents left Hungary during the 1956 uprising. They fled to Austria, stayed for a time in London, and then moved to Australia. So, Joey could have been bom in Hungary. England, or Australia. The police chief at Terracina says: "We cannot establish place of birth because only the parents were covered by the documents we found on them."

The report said the Aus tralian Embassy in Rome had told the British Consulate: “Leave it to us. We will handle this affair.”

The report quoted the First Secretary at the Embassy, Mr Kenneth Rogers, as saying. "No, we have not sent anybody down to Terracina. We have made certain inquiries through the normal channels. I cannot see that this is a matter of public interest.”

By contrast, the report said, the Hungarian Embassy in Rome had already sent emissaries—a man and a woman—bearing gifts and bags of sweets for Joey. . A Hungarian - speaking priest was sent to Terracina with direct instructions from the Vatican Secretariat of State.