NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph
Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry: I hope the ship with children sinks on the way to Australia, nun said
BY MICHAEL MCHUGH – 03 SEPTEMBER 2014
The name of a child migrant was changed by nuns before he sailed to Australia in an effort to ensure he could not be traced, the public inquiry heard.
Seasick children vomited from the decks and cried as they traversed the waves, on their way to a new identity and life in a country they knew nothing about.
One nun said: “I hope that ship sinks on the way out there as punishment for misbehaving.”
The decision to change the name of one child was signed by a mother superior in Northern Ireland on behalf of the Catholic Council for Child Welfare, the Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry was told yesterday.
He was told not to change it back when he arrived in Australia following the month-long passage from Northern Ireland. A witness statement said he was never asked did he want to go.
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