The Celtic League has asked the Isle of Man Chief Minister, Tony Brown MHK, what steps have been taken to facilitate a retrospective child-care audit for young people who were in care 30-50 years ago.
The League point out that the current child abuse scandal in Jersey is just the latest of a series over the past decades which exposed deficiencies in child-care regulation in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The League believe that the Isle of Man cannot presume that its regulatory regimes were any better than those in place in adjacent jurisdictions (Correspondence to Chief Minister below):
«Dear Chief Minister
A sad feature of the ongoing child-care enquiry in Jersey is that young people who had been subject to abuse and ill-treatment felt unable to contact authorities or speak out for many years. This scenario replicates experiences already documented of successive child abuse scandals in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have come to light over the last two decades.
Given the revelations in adjacent jurisdictions and now in the Channel Islands has the Isle of Man government taken any steps to facilitate a confidential conduit of communication for children who were in care in the Isle of Man, particularly in the distant past (i.e. thirty, forty or even fifty years ago) so that they can air any concerns or reservations that they have about their treatment.
I am sure you will agree that regulatory regimes in all the jurisdictions cited above were found to have been wanting 30-40 years ago and therefore it would be prudent for authorities here to double-check that the systems that the Isle of Man had in place shared no such deficiencies.»
An initial step that government could take is to place prominent notices with the Island media assuring that anyone with concerns can discuss issues confidentially.
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League www.celticleague.net 24/05/08
■