French lawmakers adopt reparations bill for Reunion island's stolen children

France's National Assembly on late Wednesday adopted a bill on reparations for the children who were forcibly taken from Reunion island, a French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean.

French lawmakers unanimously adopted a bill aimed at recognizing and compensating for the harm suffered by Reunion's children who were forcibly relocated to mainland France between the 1960s and 1980s, according to broadcaster BFM TV.

Between 1962 and 1984, thousands of children from La Reunion were forcibly relocated to mostly rural departments in mainland France. The policy, which affected more than 2,000 children, was intended to address the doubling of the island's population over 30 years and to repopulate rural areas.

The adopted bill calls for the creation of a remembrance commission, the designation of Feb. 18 as a national day of tribute, and the introduction of a right to compensation through a lump-sum payment.

"We do not have the power to give them back their childhood … but we do have the power to confront history," Reunion lawmaker Karine Lebon further noted in the Assembly.