CHILD MIGRANTS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21582, 8 December 1944, Page 3

CHILD MIGRANTS

AUSTRALIAN PLANS ABOUT 17*000 A YEAR BRITONS AND ALIENS l liv Toleiii'.'ii'li— Press Assn. —Copyi'D.'M. I ( () a.rn.) CANBERRA, Dec. 8. ; The Commonwealth Government has decided to Bring an average oi ; 17,000 child migrants per year to Aus- , tralia from Great Britain and Euro- , j)ean countries after the war. t j Announcing this, the acting Prime j Minister, Mr. F. M. Fordo, said the ages within which the scheme woulu [ operate would be from six tu 12 years , ior alien children and from sue to, l-i j rears for British children. A mission headed by “a person of notable standing and experience" would be | sent, abroad to work on the scheme , in Britain and Europe. Medical am: j welfare and migration experts would j be included in the mission, which j would be set up after consultations ! between the Commonwealth and ; State Governments. Machinery, would be established to arrange with international bodies such as UNRRA and various European Governments to select suitable orphans and other children for migration. Within Australia defence establishments likely to be available and suitable tor adaption to the scheme would he j surveyed. Welcoming the child migration | scheme, the' president of the British i Orphan:! Adoption Society, Mr. E. D. Darby, said that the 500 members oi this society had been waiting four years to adopt English war orphans, j The former Victorian Agent-General in London,. Sir Louis Bussait. said , hundreds of thousands of British 1 people were anxious to come to Avis- t tralia. Most of the enquiries came j from young men and women of all j trades and professions, including '■ tenant farmers and land workers. , There were also large numbers of ■ r nvegians, Danes, Swedes, Dutch nd Poles who would come to Aus- . alia. The Poles would make par- ■ , tilarly good rvurlr