The Commissioner for Children, Carmen Zammit, yesterday expressed concern over the fate of the children who were recently moved out from Lourdes Home, following the controversy of child abuse by the Dominican runs who ran the home.
“Based on the Commissioner for Children’s extensive experience in the field of residential care, the transition from the family home to a residential care institution is a traumatic occurrence in itself for the children involved, without having to be exacerbated by cutting the ties that the children would have formed whilst in Lourdes Home,” the office of the Commissioner said in a statement.
“The children have not only changed their residence, but have also been separated from one another, changed schools in the run-up to the exam period, and moved to a neighbouring island. These factors already present difficulties when considered separately, and are magnified when they are imposed on these children simultaneously.”
The office said the Commissioner for Children had attended a meeting prior to the children’s move in which she supported the suggestion that the home be kept in operation by means of state assistance, in the conviction that this temporary option would avoid any sudden and unnecessary disruption in the children’s lives.
“No weight was given to this suggestion by the relevant decision-makers, resulting in the move going ahead. This action was taken notwithstanding the recommendations made by the Commissioner for Children, together with concerns raised following her consultation with the children involved in a visit to the Home. This severely compromises the ability of the Commissioner for Children to ensure that the rights and interests of children are properly taken into account by government departments, local authorities, other public bodies and voluntary and public organizations when decisions on policies affecting children are taken.”
Zammit said that since the publication of the Manifesto for Children, the problem on the lack of residential facilities for children in Gozo had increased dramatically with the closure of the only residential care institution for children on the island.
“Gozitan children now have no facilities for out-of-home care where required,” she said, urging the authorities to take urgent steps to address the lacuna.
She also urged the immediate provision of all necessary professional support to the previous young residents of Lourdes Home, “for the best interests of the child to be given due paramount importance”.