An Australian report shows aboriginal children are being removed from their families at a rate similar to the 1920s. The revelation came in a report submitted to the state of Queensland. It showed that 669 aboriginal children in Queensland were in state care in 2007. Over 700 aboriginal children in the state were forcibly removed from their parents during the 1920s and put under state care, ostensibly to assimilate aboriginal people with the culture of Australia's white settlers.
The report comes a decade after the release of the landmark Bringing Them Home Report on the forced removal of indigenous children from their families during the 1920s.
Julian Pocock, executive officer at the Australian secretariat of aboriginal child care, said, "Most of these children end up being disconnected with their indigenous culture and identity." Queensland's Child Safety Minister Margaret Keech, however, refused to see parallels with the forcible assimilation policies of the 1920s.
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