The British government has apologized for a program that sent poor British children overseas from 1618 to 1967. 150,000 such children were sent to Australia, Canada and other former colonies (US being one). The children were from orphanages, unmarried mothers, or poor families. It seems one of the first groups was sent to the Virginia Colony in 1618 and after 1920 most were sent to Australia. Many of these children were placed in institutions and many were "physically and sexually abused or sent to work as farm laborers". Of those sent to Australia, many of the siblings were split up. While the stated objective was to give these children a chance for a "better life" it was also "intended to stop them from being a burden on the British state while supplying the receiving countries with white potential workers".
(Source: "Kids shipped to colonies receive an official apology" by Rod McGuirk, and Jill Lawless of The AP. In The Virginian Pilot on 11/16/09)
Don't hold your breath waiting for an apology for the all the *adults* who were wrongly stolen from their homelands...
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