Canada will pay hundreds of indigenous communities a total of 2.8 billion Canadian dollars (the equivalent of almost 2 billion euros) in compensation. That’s the settlement for nearly a century of child abuse in boarding schools.
At least 324 indigenous communities had filed a class action lawsuit. The amount that the Canadian government will pay will be placed in a fund that is independent of the government.
According to a government statement, the fund aims to “revive Indigenous education, culture and language, to support survivors to heal the wounds and reconnect with their heritage”.
From the late 1800s to the 1990s, the Canadian government sent some 150,000 Indigenous children to 139 schools. These schools were mainly run by the Catholic Church.
The children were deliberately kept away from their family, language and culture. Many children were sexually abused and thousands died of disease, malnutrition or neglect. According to a national commission of inquiry, the system was a cultural genocide.
In the past two years, large-scale abuse has been in the spotlight. This was due to the discovery of hundreds of anonymous graves in places where the schools used to be. More than thirteen hundred graves have already been identified. Pope Francis traveled to Canada last year to apologize for the abuse.
