The most recent graves were found near Vancouver. Unmarked children’s graves had already been discovered on former Catholic boarding school grounds – Canada’s prime minister calls for a visit from the Pope.
Vancouver – Around 160 graves have been discovered on the site of another former boarding school for indigenous children on an island near the western Canadian metropolis of Vancouver.
The “unmarked and undocumented graves” were found near the former Kuper Island Residential School in the province of British Columbia, as Canadian media reported, citing the indigenous community of the Penelakut. Further details were not initially given.
In the past few weeks, hundreds of unmarked graves and remains of children’s corpses had been discovered at at least three other former boarding schools for indigenous children.
Violence and abuse are the order of the day
From the 17th century to the 1990s, indigenous children who had been torn from their families were housed in the “residential schools”, which were mostly run by the Catholic Church. There they had to learn the traditions of the European colonialists in order to forget their own languages and cultures. Violence and sexual abuse were commonplace.
The finds had led to numerous protests in Canada, but also caused horror and outrage far beyond the country’s borders. UN human rights experts had asked the government of Canada and the Vatican to provide comprehensive information. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had asked Pope Francis to come to Canada and apologize. dpa
