UK Decries Toppling Of Queen Statues In Canada Amid Anger At Deaths Of Indigenous Children

The UK government condemned on Friday the toppling of two statues of queens Victoria and Elizabeth II in Canada, whose reign was marred by the deaths of indigenous children at residential schools

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd July, 2021) The UK government condemned on Friday the toppling of two statues of queens Victoria and Elizabeth II in Canada, whose reign was marred by the deaths of indigenous children at residential schools.

Hundreds of unmarked graves have recently been found on the sites of former schools, prompting thousands in the Canadian city of Winnipeg to march on the legislature where they smeared Queen Victoria's statue with red paint and pulled it to the ground using ropes. A smaller statue of the reigning queen was toppled nearby.

"We obviously condemn any defacing of statues of the Queen.

Our thoughts are with Canada's indigenous community following these tragic discoveries and we follow these issues closely and continue to engage with the government of Canada with indigenous matters," a UK government spokesperson said.

An estimated 150,000 First Nations children were taken from their families by the colonial British government in the 19th and 20th centuries and placed in residential schools in order to be "assimilated." Some 6,000 children are believed to have died in the Catholic church-run schools from abuse and neglect.