Dozens of Pacific Islanders and Palagi defied the bitterly cold wind and rain for a peaceful “remember the Dawn Raids” march along Auckland’s Ponsonby Road at the weekend.

The Savali ole Filemu march recognised the anxiety which currently faces overstayers, and the pain still felt from the Dawn Raids.

Tongan community leader Pakilau Manase Lua said coming to New Zealand to improve their lives should not be a crime.

“They took a risk, OK, they broke the law, but so is breaking the speed limit. It’s not a criminal act to come here and try and find a life,” he said.

Holding a photo frame of his late father, Siosifa Lua, Pakilau said they would remember those who had never got justice for how they were treated.

“We came to build this country, and we’re still building this country, and how are we treated? Like dogs!”, he shouted.

‘Those days are over’
“Those days are over. Our children are here. The generations that build this country are here.”

Labour’s Papakura candidate ‘Anahila Kanongata’a-Suisuiki says being an overstayer had personal consequences when her grandfather died in 1977.

“My mother was still an overstayer here, and she had to make a decision … return to Tonga to say farewell to her father, or remain here, for the betterment of the future of her children.”

The government apologised for the Dawn Raids in 2021, and the Labour Party is now promising an amnesty for overstayers of more than ten years, if elected.

But Polynesian Panther activist Will ‘Ilolahia says these political promises are too little, too late.

“We’ve got a deputy prime minister that’s a Pacific Islander, and now they’re bribing our people to vote for them so they can stay in. Sorry, you’ve missed the bus.”

Green Party candidate Teanau Tuiono agrees more should have been done.

“Healing takes time, it takes discussion, and it’s not just something that you can just apologise for and then it ends.

“Yes, the Dawn Raids apology was a good thing, but we also need to have an amnesty for overstayers and pathways for residency. Because let’s be clear, that amnesty could have happened last year.”

Mesepa Edwards says they are continuing the legacy of the Polynesian Panthers’ original members.

“I’m a 21st Century Panther. What they fought for, back in the 70s and 60s, we’re still fighting for today.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The use of “dawn raid” tactics have trampled on Immigration NZ’s “very special relationship” with the Pacific communities, says Māngere MP Aupito William Sio.

The Minister of Immigration, six Pacific MPs and the head of Immigration NZ will meet in South Auckland tomorrow, following the revelation “dawn raid” tactics are still being used in Aotearoa.

“I was appalled, really appalling, I would describe it as Ua soli le mā, (a Samoan saying that roughly translates to ‘you’re trampling on the shame’).

“Meaning the way Immigration are conducting the use of their powers of deportation have trampled on a very special relationship with our Pacific communities of Aotearoa,” said Aupito, the former Minister for Pacific Peoples.

Senior Pacific lawyer Soane Foliaki broke the news, sharing a story of his client who was taken into custody after police knocked on his door in the early hours of the morning, frightening his children.

Aupito believes it is his responsibility to hold Immigration to account with recent events demonstrating there is a complete “lack of cultural intelligence” within the ministry.

“And I think Immigration needs to address that immediately,” he said.

In a statement, an Immigration New Zealand spokesperson said it had launched a review into “out of hours compliance visits” and pressed pause on all such operations until the review had been completed.

Tongan community leader Pakilau Manase Lua is not letting this moment slip by either.

In February this year Prime Minister Chris Hipkins told RNZ Pacific he would look at an overstayer petition that was launched by Pacific community leaders almost three years ago.

To be clear, this was a petition, not just for Pasifika, but for all overstayers in Aotearoa, Pakilau said.

When Hipkins was questioned on whether he would make changes to the government’s policy, he said: “I haven’t had an opportunity to look at that issue yet but I absolutely intend to look at it.”

Three months have passed and no changes have been made.

Pakilau has been fighting for change for years. The people he has been fighting for have legitimate reasons to stay and deserve compassion, he says.

“They might have been here during the lockdowns and they couldn’t go back. Or they were here on a temporary visa and it was difficult to go back due to the eruption,” Pakilau told RNZ Pacific in February.

For him the issue is personal — his uncle Teni is a Dawn Raids survivor.

“Teni was here with us in Auckland during the Dawn Raids of the 1970s as part of a migrant work scheme that brought him and countless thousands here to NZ to do work nobody here wanted to do,” he said.

He remembers his uncle calling from Mount Eden prison to say goodbye as he was deported back to Tonga.

Apology ‘still stands’
Jacinda Ardern humbled herself and apologised for the actions of the government in the 1970s.

For many, finding out similar tactics are still being used is painful and even retraumatising.

Aupito said the stakes were very high, the legacy of a very important apology which in his view “still stands” has been “trampled on” by Immigration New Zealand.

He wants Immigration to take a good hard look at its operations.

“I’m gutted, I’m just gutted that the the Ministry of Immigration does not seem to have understood at all the principles that the Ministry of MFAT are using as guiding principles for engagement; manaakitanga, kaitiakitanga, arohatanga,” Aupito said.

He has spoken with the Minister of Immigration, the new Pacific Peoples Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister who he says all feel the same way.

While Aupito has not spoken with Ardern this week, he has confidence in Michael Wood.

“I have faith that Minister Wood is someone from South Auckland and he understands what is at stake here and he will pursue that,” he said.

Time to front up
Wood and immigration officials will front up tomorrow at a community meeting.

Overstayers are called to turn up and be heard, not to hide in the shadows afraid.

“This is our time, people. Come and have your voices heard in our own backyard of Auckland,” Tongan community leader Pakilau Manase Lua said.

“Don’t worry if you are worried about being an overstayer they need to hear you. Don’t leave it too late. We are here. We stand with you.”

Aupito has a message for the family that lawyer Foliaki acts on behalf of.

“I just apologise to the family for the behaviour of Immigration,” he said.

• The meeting is at 10am, May 6, at 25 Princes Street, Otahuhu.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The New Zealand government’s immigration decisions amount to a “white immigration policy”, creating a two-tier system that will entrench inequities, claims the Green Party.

National and ACT are also critical of the moves announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and top ministers at a Business NZ lunch in Auckland today.

The new policy sees New Zealand’s border fully reopening at the end of July, with sector-specific agreements to support a shift away from lower-skilled migrant labour.

Green Party immigration spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March said it would entrench a two-tier system.

“The workers that we called essential throughout the pandemic, many will be missing out on genuine pathways to residency and we are narrowing down pathways to residency for those that we consider high-salary migrants. This will entrench inequities,” he said.

“There are really clear wage gaps along ethnic lines — we’re effectively encouraging specific countries to come and become residents whereas people from the Global South who will be coming here, working in low wage industries, with no certain path to residency.”

He was also concerned about the prospect of international students losing working rights after their studies, and the roughly 16,000 overstayers in New Zealand.

‘Feels like a white-immigration policy’
“When we contextualise that many of the students and workers on low wages are from India and the Philippines, it kinda feels like we are creating a white-immigration policy – whether intentionally or otherwise.

“We’re also missing stuff around an amnesty for overstayers as well as addressing issues around migrant exploitation … we’ve been told by the Productivity Commission and many groups that migrant workers need to have their wages decoupled from single employers.

“These are people who have been living here for quite some time, many who are doing really important work but unfortunately are being exploited. If we’re really serious about enhancing workers’ rights, an amnesty should have been part of the rebalance.”

The new immigration settings streamline the residency pathway for migrants either in “Green List” occupations or paid twice the median wage.

National’s immigration spokesperson Erica Stanford said the broad brush approach was lazy.

“They could be far more nuanced and actually have fair wage rates per industry, per region, but instead they’re taking the easy route and a broad brush approach.

“I think it’s based on an unfair assumption that migrant workers drive down wages which, by the way the Productivity Commission said actually doesn’t happen.”

Families ‘separated for too long’
ACT Party leader David Seymour said the border should be open right now and families have been separated for far too long.

“It’s not opening the border in July, it’s opening up applications in July,” he said.

“Immigration New Zealand says that it will be five months on average to process a visa. The reality is if you’re one of 14 percent of New Zealanders born in a non-visa waiver country then your non-resident family can’t visit this year.”

Businesses are relieved the border will fully open and many will attempt to attract migrant workers here.

Business New Zealand’s director of advocacy Catherine Beard said skills shortages were across the board.

“One of the top headaches that we hear everywhere from every sector is a shortage of talent so we really need to throw the welcome mat open to immigrants. We’re competing with other countries for this talent and it’s really hurting.”

NZ Wine Growers chief executive Phil Gregan said re-opening the border to holidaymakers and tourists was important.

“First, it’s a positive signal that we’re open for business. I think it’s also going to have very positive impacts on tourism, on hospitality and our business on wine reseller doors hopefully.”

The wine sector is reliant on seasonal workers.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific leaders say offering “visas for vaccinations’ would be the ultimate incentive for New Zealand overstayers to get the covid-19 jab, as Auckland struggles to stop delta variant infections spreading through the community.

It comes as epidemiologists say the government needs to pull out all the stops to get people vaccinated amid rising case numbers.

Immigration lawyer Richard Small of Pacific Legal today called for visas only to be granted to those who get inoculated, and an amnesty to overstayers who are double-jabbed.

The Ministry of Health reported a record 102 community cases today, the first time the number of new cases has reached triple figures.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said on the current trajectory there could be up to 180 cases a day within two to three weeks. The number of these cases that ended up in hospital would depend on how many had been vaccinated, he said.

The latest modelling showed there was not a large amount of undetected cases, and the numbers being found were what would be expected, he said.

Plea for an overstayer amnesty
The Pacific Leadership Forum is calling for an overstayer amnesty through a parliamentary petition, which won support from the Employers and Manufacturers Association.

The forum’s Pacific Response Coordination Team chair Pakilau Manase Lua said that adding in an immigration incentive to that amnesty would be very effective.

“I would guarantee that probably 99.9 per cent of overstayers would come out of the woodwork and get vaccinated if that was their pathway to residency or amnesty to get their papers to be legal here,” Lua said.

“They’re desperate. It was hard enough before covid arrived for these people to survive – they have to work, they have to find a way to make ends meet.

“Moving from house to house and at the whim of the family and friends who are sheltering them. And that’s a risk to themselves and to others if they’re not vaccinated”

Among an estimated 14,000 overstayers, the highest numbers without valid visas are from Tonga and Samoa.

A fifth of the current active covid-19 cases are among Pacific people, and their fully vaccinated rates are lower (at 59 percent) than the national average (67 percent).

‘They fear authority’
If the government was concerned an amnesty would be unpopular, it needed to make sure politics did not trump public health, said Lua.

“The optics don’t matter, it’s life or death – in a pandemic, what are optics compared to human lives? We’ve got a virus raging in South Auckland among our communities where most overstayers are living.

“And despite all the reassurances to go out and test and to get vaccinated, we know that many have yet to be vaccinated – some have gone in, but the majority have not.

“Rightfully, they fear authority – these are people who are hiding from authority because they’ve got deportation orders or other things that are hanging over them.”

Tongan Manase Lua, an overstayer as a child during the Dawn Raids era before an amnesty gave his family a permanent future, said launching a similar reprieve now would also recognise the reality that no-one could be deported back to the Pacific Islands while there was a risk of them spreading covid-19 there.

It was mind-boggling that the government was disregarding the risk, as well the contribution overstayers make, he said.

“They’re resourceful, they work hard, they often do the work that nobody else wants to do on the front lines — while we’re working from home and in the safety and security of home, they’re out on the front lines picking fruit, cleaning the floors, mopping the hospital floors and all the hard work that we take for granted.

“So they would love this opportunity to be a person, be a human being in the country that says it’s kind.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

When the Polynesian Panthers (PPP) activist group began calling for an apology for the Dawn Raids two years ago, we went into the process with eyes wide open. Government lobbyists seldom get everything they ask for, but our intent was honest and real and fuelled by our Panther legacy and love for the people.

We believe that the apology was, and is, a necessary step towards the healing and restoration of trust and relationships between the Pacific peoples and families who were adversely affected by government actions during the Dawn Raids and the Aotearoa New Zealand government.

The prime minister’s emotional ritual entry into Auckland’s Great Hall and her address to Pacific people and communities assembled there last Sunday drastically relived the shameful and unjust treatment of Pacific peoples by successive governments during the Dawn Raids era of the 1970s, when police, hunting for immigrant overstayers and armed with dogs and batons, would burst into the homes of Pasifika families in the early morning hours.

These experiences and the subsequent deportations have created layers of intergenerational shame and trauma for Pacific victims and families in New Zealand and in the homelands. Studies have since shown that Pacific people made up only 30 percent of the overstayers, and yet almost 90 percent of the deportations.

The bulk of the migrants who overstayed their visas were from the US and UK. Since the apology was announced there has been a flood of victims’ stories –- stories no longer silenced by the guilt, shame and trauma of the raids and random checks.

What was missing from Sunday’s apology was a list of concrete actions the government will take in addressing the injustices. Instead, what was delivered were four “gestures”: some national and Pacific scholarships, and two other educational “gestures” that were really already in place — a publication about experiences of the Dawn Raids and the provision of resources to those schools already teaching about them.

Why has the government remained silent about setting up a legacy fund to allow education about the Dawn Raids — as requested in the petition signed by more than 7000 people and presented to Parliament by Josiah Tualamali’i and Benji Timu — to prevent future generations of New Zealanders from carrying out the same or similar racist actions?

Educate to Liberate
The only programme currently addressing this is an unfunded one run by the PPP for 50 years and more specifically for the past 10 years with their Educate to Liberate programmes in schools.

This was a far cry to what the Panthers were calling for.

In its submission for healing and restoration to the government in May, the Panthers were clear about what they wanted: an apology as well as 100 annual scholarships, and the overhaul of the current educational curriculum to include the compulsory teaching of racism, race relations, the Dawn Raids and Pacific Studies and the significance of the Treaty of Waitangi as the cornerstone of harmonious race relations in Aotearoa New Zealand, across all sectors, and assessed as “achieved standards” across appropriate non-history subjects.

If what we Panthers called for was granted and acted on, it would provide a clear message to all Pacific peoples and communities and to all New Zealanders that the government was ready for a truly liberating education and a world-leading pathway to the best race relations — Kiwi-style — in the world.

Alas, what the apology delivered was a watered-down version of what the Panthers called for. By perpetuating a myopic view of our long-term educational needs, the short term gestures outlined in the apology will not be enough to grow a truly liberated and informed youthful leadership for the future.

This oversight suggests a rocky future for the New Zealand government and the va (the social and sacred spaces of relationships) with Pacific peoples. The Polynesian Panther demands to annihilate racism in New Zealand might seem too revolutionary and drastic, and will probably fuel anti-Pacific sentiments, but is this really the absolute maximum that the government can do?

What we were given in this apology did little to dismantle systemic racism. Much more work needs to be done to decolonise and re-indigenise our education system. Why is the teaching of the Dawn Raids only optional and not compulsory? The Panthers platform of peaceful resistance against racism, the celebration of mana Pasifika and a liberating education is as relevant now as it was in the era of the Dawn Raids.

If the changes the Panthers have fought for over the last 50 years don’t materialise, then we have no alternative but to — as Māori scholar and activist Ranginui Walker puts it — “ka whawhai tonu matou [we will continue the fight]”.

Dr Melani Anae is a foundation member of the Polynesian Panthers and an associate professor and director of research at the Centre for Pacific Studies, Te Wananga o Waipapa, University of Auckland. Her books include The Platform: The Radical Legacy of the Polynesian Panthers (2020), Polynesian Panthers: Pacific Protest and Affirmative Action in Aotearoa NZ 1971–1981 (2015), and Polynesian Panthers (2006). This article first appeared in The Guardian and has been republished here with the author’s permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today delivered the government’s apology for the Dawn Raids against Pasifika overstayers.

She apologised for the raids in the 1970s which happened under both Labour and National governments.

“The government expresses its sorrow, remorse and regret that the Dawn Raids and random police checks occurred and that these actions were ever considered appropriate,” she said in the cultural ceremony at the Auckland Town Hall.

“Our government conveys to the future generations of Aotearoa that the past actions of the Crown were wrong, and that the treatment of your ancestors was wrong. We convey to you our deepest and sincerest apology.”

The Dawn Raids resulted in the deportation and prosecution of many Pacific Islanders, even those who remotely looked Pasifika, despite many overstayers at the time being British or American.

Both major political parties have accepted that the raids were racist.

RNZ Pacific sat down with the Minister for Pacific Peoples ‘Aupito William Sio earlier today, in his only radio interview before standing alongside Ardern, as she said sorry for the racist immigration policy that tore Pasifika families apart.

Understandably with the long work programme this apology has required of him (there has only ever been two formal government apologies meeting human injustice criteria), a number of portfolios and a pandemic continuing to ravage the Pacific, ‘Aupito said he was nervous for today’s proceedings.

“I feel the weight of responsibility from the government but also the weight of responsibility from our communities,” he said. “So, all of that, I feel.”

A formal request for an apology had been made to the prime minister’s office from the Polynesian Panthers early last year, Aupito said.

Watch the RNZ live coverage of the ceremony:

Today was a poignant moment in our Pacific and New Zealand history. The breaking of a new dawn. ✨ I have hope that today’s apology will play an important part in the healing process for our people, our aiga and fanau. ? @nzlabour pic.twitter.com/HKqSP6LpCl

— Carmel Sepuloni (@CarmelSepuloni) August 1, 2021

“…The first step on the long pathway to healing, must include an apology for the racist and unjust treatment of Pacific people in the Dawn Raid era and since.

So this is a very special moment for the Polynesian Panther party, as well as our communities.” – Rev Alec Toleafoa. pic.twitter.com/SZsU4LAHoI

— RNZ Pacific (@RNZPacific) August 1, 2021

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

As the New Zealand government confirmed it would apologise for the 1970s Dawn Raids against Pacific Islanders, memories have surfaced for those traumatised by them, including one elderly man.

The politically-driven crackdown on overstayers from the Pacific Islands involved special police squads raiding homes and workplaces, often in the early morning.

Savelio Ikani Pailate, 93, remembered being chased by dogs in the middle of the night.

He said they had to run to away to Manurewa, to places “where there were no houses”, with some being injured because they fled in bare feet.

Pailate’s case was before the court at the end he was allowed to work, but the police ignored it and deported him anyway.

He dreamt of buying his family a home and getting his children educated

He achieved that after returning to New Zealand and working until age 82, refusing to listen to the many voices against him.

The crackdown on Pacific overstayers. Video: TVNZ News

Racially profiled
Racially profiled and picked up randomly by police, workplaces were raided and homes stormed.

“They’d call it the Dawn Raids but they actually raided just after midnight cause our families would be up and gone before dawn because that’s what they did, they worked at the crack of dawn,” Pakilau Manase Lua of the Pacific Leadership Forum said.

Pacific People’s Minister ‘Aupito William Sio wiped away tears as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed she would apologise for the Dawn Raids next week.

‘Aupito described what the apology would mean, and the significance of restoring mana for the victims of the raids.

The Pacific People’s Minister, whose family moved to New Zealand in 1969 from Samoa, spoke of being raided, having “memories about my father being helpless”.

“We bought the home about two years prior. To have someone knocking at the door at the early hours with a flashlight in your face, disrespecting the owner of the home, with an Alsatian dog frothing at the mouth wanting to come in without any respect for the people living there.”

‘Aupito described it as “quite traumatising”.

“The apology is about helping people heal. People who have been traumatised.”

Ardern and the government will formally apologise for the 1970s Dawn Raids that targeted the Pacific community on June 26 in the Auckland Town Hall.

This article is republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A co-founder of the Polynesian Panthers says the government should allow overstayers to remain in New Zealand after it formally apologises for the Dawn Raids later this month.

An emotional Minister for Pacific Peoples, ‘Aupito William Sio, also revealed today harrowing details of his own family’s subjection to the notorious police raids of the 1970s.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday acknowledged the racist policies of National and Labour governments that targeted overstayers by their Pacific ethnicity, despite those of European descent making up the majority of illegal immigrants at that time.

Ardern will apologise on behalf of the state at a commemoration event in the Auckland Town Hall on June 26.

But social Justice advocate and co-founder of Polynesian Panthers Will ‘Ilolahia says it is not enough for the government to belatedly apologise and that any so-called compensation for the injustice should be paid by opening up pathways to residency for people now in similar circumstances.

“There has been terror in our society that money can’t pay for,” he said. “What is more beneficial for our people in society is pathways to residency for the present overstayers here.

“We’ve got overstayers here whose children are head boys and head girls. We’re got overstayers here those children have the potential to represent our country, but they can’t because they have no papers.

Qualification for citizen
“But the fact is they pay tax and surely that is enough qualification to be a citizen of New Zealand… We’re only talking about 10,000 people here.”

The Polynesian Panthers was formed in June 1971 to campaign for equality, justice and indigenous rights.

Another of its co-founders, Manase Lua, told Morning Report that something more meaningful then just words needed to be offered if justice was to be truly served.

The Pasifika leader, whose parents were targeted in the Dawn Raids, said residency would provide a just and fair settlement of past grievances, so that others would not experience a similar trauma and sense of worthlessness as his own family did in the mid-1970s.

“Compensation is the wrong word and that just sparks division among our communities,” he said.

“We have not sought compensation, you cannot compensate my family, my dad’s already passed away. He was a dawn raider who came here and contributed towards this country, paid tax all his life and never got into trouble with the law, he came here illegal but he wasn’t a criminal – he came here to seek a better life.”

The Minister for Pacific Peoples, ‘Aupito William Sio, revealed his own family was subjected to a dawn raid, describing the helplessness felt at the time by his father and the screams of terror of family members.

‘A bang in the early hours’
“We had just bought a house a year or two before and my parents were quite proud owners, putting roots into New Zealand and then to receive a bang in the early hours of the morning,” he told Morning Report.

“We were all awakened because of the noise, there was a man standing there with a flash light in my father’s eye, my mother clutching him so he doesn’t do anything that might hurt the police because it was his home. He felt there was a great deal of disrespect shown… to be treated like that – we were treated like animals.”

He said the apology would help raise up a mirror to New Zealand society and show how racism had inflicted hurt and trauma on a people who had simply responded to the call to fill labour gaps and wanted to live dignified lives.

Talking openly about the raids after an acknowledgement of injustice by government would hopefully help young Pacific people see their place in society as one hard fought and of value.

“I hope that it would empower them. I hope it gives them a sense of confidence that they are valued as human beings, that their heritage as peoples of the Pacific is something to be held tightly and to be treasured and I hope that this gives them a better understanding of what their grandparents and parents have endured and the sacrifices that were made, ‘Aupito said.

“That they stand on the shoulders of those giants and that they should be proud, not ashamed and recognise Pacific peoples have continued to provide a strong and positive contribution to the fabric of Aotearoa.”

He said Ardern and her cabinet would make decisions regarding what practical actions should accompany the apology.

Green call for residency
The Green Party’s spokesperson for Pacific people, Teanau Tuiono, echoed the calls for residency. He told RNZ Morning Report the government apology was significant and a start, but needed to be backed by substantive action, which should include educating people on the raids and offering legal pathways to contemporary overstayers.

“They came here for exactly the same reasons that our parents and our grandparents came here in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and the ’80s and the important thing also to remember here is that they are also essential workers and they have helped carry us through the pandemic,” he said.

“For me it’s really important to see what has happened in the past in particular in the damn raids within the wider trajectory of history of Pacific peoples within Aotearoa.”

National leader Judith Collins also backed the government apology. She told RNZ Morning Report that it was a sad time in New Zealand history and that anything beyond an apology was up to the prime minister.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will make a formal government apology for the 1970s Dawn Raids against Pacific Islanders on June 26 at a commemoration event in the Auckland Town Hall.

She made the announcement today alongside Pacific Peoples Minister ‘Aupito William Sio.

Ardern said there was strict criteria cabinet needed to apply when deciding to make an apology, including:

• whether a human injustice must have been committed and was well documented;
• victims must be definable as a distinct group; and
• victims continued to suffer harm, connected to a past injustice.

Cabinet decided the criteria had been met in relation to the Dawn Raids, Ardern said.

There have been two previous government apologies meeting these criteria – the Chinese poll tax in 2002 and an apology to Samoa for the injustices arising from New Zealand’s colonial administration.

Ardern said the Dawn Raids were “routinely severe with demeaning verbal and physical treatment”.

She said when computerised immigration records were introduced in 1977, the first accurate picture of overstaying pattern showed 40 percent were British and American “despite these groups never being targets of police attention”.

Both Labour and National governments oversaw a crackdown on overstayers from the Pacific Islands in the 1970s.

“To this day, Pacific communities face prejudices and stereotypes established during and perpetuated by the Dawn Raids period. An apology can never reverse what happened or undo the decades of disadvantage experienced as a result, but it can contribute to healing the Pacific peoples in Aotearoa,” Ardern said.

She would not say what the formal apology might involve but said it would focus on the ongoing impact on the community, and the history.

There was a period around 2000 where amnesty was available, she said.

People were “dehumanised” and “terrorised” in their homes, Ardern said of the Dawn Raids era.

“… it left a lasting impact. People were told at the time if you did not look like a New Zealander they should carry ID to prove they are not an overstayer. You can imagine what impact that has on a community to live in an environment like that.”

‘The stars have aligned’ – ‘Aupito

Many in the Pasifika community have long called for an apology, with more than 7000 people signing a recent petition.

The Pacific Peoples Minister said other communities, including Māori, were also impacted by the raids.

“I don’t think there is any Pacific family who was not impacted on by the events of the Dawn Raids and there is a strong moral imperative to acknowledge those past actions were wrong through an apology, they recognise those actions were unacceptable under the universal declaration of human rights, and are absolutely intolerable within today’s human rights protections, ” ‘Aupito said.

While the raids took place almost 50 years ago, the legacy of the era lives on today “etched in the memories and oral history of Pacific communities”.

“This apology is a step in the right direction to right the wrongs of the past and help heal the wounds of trauma that still resides in the psyche of those who were directly affected.”

On a personal level, ‘Aupito said it was a “huge deal” for the government to acknowledge the wrongs of the past.

“The stars have aligned,” Sio said, acknowledging the role the prime minister and ministerial colleagues played in agreeing to the advice they received.

‘Aupito recalls ‘traumatising’ raid
‘Aupito said there were many Pacific families who would talk about the Dawn Raids, and he wanted to give them the opportunity to talk about the trauma and help them heal.

Talking about his own experience, he said his family was raided in the early hours of the morning about two years after they purchased their home. His father was “helpless”, he said.

Talking about his own experience, ‘Aupito said his family was raided in the early hours of the morning about two years after they purchased their home. His father was “helpless”, he said.

“To have somebody knocking on the door in the early hours of the morning with a flashlight in your face, disrespecting the owner of the home, with an Alsatian dog frothing at the mouth in that door, and wanting to come in without any respect for the people living in there — it’s quite traumatising.”

His sister and 82-year-old father would not talk about that time, ‘Aupito said.

Other Pacific families had similar experiences, he said.

“You have to remember, we felt as a community that we were invited to come to New Zealand. We responded to the call to fill the labour workforce that was needed, in the same way that they responded to the call for soldiers in 1914.

“So we were coming to aid a country when they needed us, and when that friend or country felt they no longer needed us they turned on us, trust was broken.”

The apology was about restoring trust and building confidence in the next generation, he said while trying to control his emotions.

“I do not want my children or any of my nieces or nephews to be shackled by that pain and to be angry about it. I need them to move forward and look to the future as peoples of Aotearoa.”

PM to get covid-19 vaccine
On the Covid-19 vaccine, Ardern said more details about the rollout would be announced on Thursday.

The prime minister will receive her first dose of the vaccine on Friday, June 18, afternoon in the South Auckland suburb of Manurewa, alongside her chief science adviser.

They Are Us film
On the They Are Us film project, Ardern said everyone should know the discomfort she felt about the project, but at the same time it was not for her to say what projects should or should not go ahead.

“This is a very raw event for New Zealand, even more so for the community that experienced it and I agree that there are stories that at some point should be told from March 15, but they are the stories of the Muslim community, so they need to be at the centre of that.”

Auckland-based producer Philippa Campbell has withdrawn from the crew working on the proposed film. In a statement, Campbell said she deeply regretted the shock and hurt the announcement of the film has led to throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.

Immigration policy and overstaying
Speaking about the current immigration policy, Ardern said there would be consequences for overstaying, but there were ways to do it “that do not lead to discriminatory practice”.

Asked if the apology for the Dawn Raids would include amnesty for some people, Ardern said there should not be expectations about that.

Amnesty in the early 2000s gave a pathway to regularisation for some Pacific people, Ardern said.

Any amnesty would apply to a wide-ranging cohort, she said.

“We wouldn’t want to seek to apologise for a discriminatory policy and then by giving that apology discriminate others by only having a certain policy apply to one group,” she said.

There is a large group of ethnicities and communities that would argue for a pathway to regularisation, she said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

EDITORIAL: By Kaniva News staff

Last month’s announcement by Minister for Pacific Peoples ‘Aupito William Sio that overstayers qualify for health care during the covid-19 coronavirus pandemic is welcome.

While Kaniva News does not condone remaining illegally in New Zealand, we know that overstayers’ families and children are particularly vulnerable in the current crisis.

Many have lost their jobs because of the lockdown and information on government websites indicates they have no automatic right to financial help.

READ MORE: Al Jazeera coronavirus live updates – WHO says coronavirus ‘natural in origin’

We believe that overstayers should be offered a blanket amnesty covering the period of the covid-19 pandemic to allow them to access the full range of services.

As Kaniva News reported, for many Tongan overstayers, the cultural practice of fe’inasi’aki, where families and relatives share whatever they have when things are hard, is their only hope.

Unfortunately, this can mean that families who may already be facing financial difficulties are expected to make unrealistic sacrifices.

It can also mean that families are crowded together in inadequate housing, where it is easier for the virus to spread.

Early response
The government responded early to help visa holders whose permits were about to expire.

Holders of a work, student, visitor, limited or interim visa with an expiry date of April 2–July 9 who were in New Zealand on April 2 have had their visas automatically extended to September 25.

But for overstayers, there has been no such generosity.

As Kaniva News reported, right now there is currently no amnesty for the overstayers.

In 2018, it was estimated there were about 10,000 overstayers in New Zealand, many of whom are Tongans.

A full scale amnesty can be complicated.

During the large scale amnesty in 2000 about 7000 overstayers, including 3500 Tongans and Samoans and a similar number from other countries were eligible to apply for permanent residence.

Work permit option
“Overstayers who had been living in New Zealand for five years or more, had New Zealand-born children and were married or in a de facto relationship of at least two years to a New Zealand citizen or resident were able to apply for a two-year work permit as a prerequisite for permanent residence.

In the current crisis such a complicated process would be inappropriate.

Once the pandemic has abated and international travel is possible again, the government could set criteria for an amnesty and provide proper legal pathways for overstayers to remain in New Zealand or be sent home.

For now, what is needed is a blanket amnesty that allows overstayers to augment the medical care Minister Sio has announced and seek additional help with financial support and accommodation.

Kaniva News published this editorial originally on 13 April 2020. The Pacific Media Centre republishes Kaniva News articles under partnership.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Michael Andrew

An exhibition about the infamous Dawn Raids” in the 1970s has opened in South Auckland, providing a window into a painful chapter of New Zealand’s history.

Called Educate to Liberate, the exhibition showcases art projects, memorabilia and photographs of a time when the police were racial profiling and harassing Pacific Islanders in a government-approved campaign.

Curator Pauline Smith told Pacific Media Watch the exhibition raises awareness and invites people to come forward to share their stories.

WATCH TAGATA PASIFIKA: Polynesian Panthers on the Dawn Raids

“It gives people permission to talk about it. It’s still very painful and shameful for a lot of people,” she said.

The Dawn Raids were part of a police and immigration crackdown on illegal “overstayers” in the 1970s. Pacific Islanders were specifically targeted while overstayers of European origin were overlooked.

-Partners-

Police entered homes in the early hours, demanding to see passports and proof of residency. They often physically removed residents for deportation.

Smith said the raids created a lot of shame among Pacific people, many of whom are reluctant to talk about it due to social stigma.

However, some have opened up about their experiences.

South Island raids
“We had this girl in Invercargill who had a story about how they were dawn raided and the uncle was escorted on to the plane by police, so they looked like criminals.”

Social services then came and put her brother and sister in state care.

“She said her brother never recovered properly.”

Educate to Liberate was exhibited in the Southland Museum and Art Gallery, Niho o te Taniwha in Invercargill last year after the release of Smith’s award-winning children’s book, Dawn Raids.

Co-curator Ari Edgecombe of the Southland Museum said there were many sad stories of the Invercargill Dawn Raids, despite a common misconception they were not carried out in the South Island.

“That’s one of the reasons why we’re asking people to share their voice if they want to,” he said.

“We just figured that this might be the time for healing.”

Polynesian Panthers
The exhibition’s Auckland opening in Fresh Gallery Ōtara last weekend featured talks from Tigilau Ness, Will ‘Ilolahia and Reverend Alec Toleafoa of the Polynesian Panthers, an activist group formed in the 1970s in response to the raids and police discrimination.

The Polynesian Panthers were formed to resist police discrimination. Image: Michael Andrew/PMW

Pacific people were being “systematically targeted” for random street checks in a police initiative called Operation Pot Black.

The Panthers distributed a legal pamphlet to Pacific communities allowing people to know their rights when being harassed by police. A copy of the pamphlet is on display at the exhibition.

They also carried out their own dawn raids on the houses of North Shore MP George Gair and the Minister of Immigration, Bill Birch, turning up at 3am with loudspeakers and spotlights and demanding to see their passports.

The police raids stopped shortly after.

Former chair of the Panthers Will ‘Ilolahia said he and other members of the group served prison sentences for their struggles with the police.

“Some of us were feeling so strong about it that we were prepared to go and do time.”

Institutional racism
A “change consultant” now, ‘Ilolahia and other Panther members visit schools and talk to students about the need to stand up for what is right.

While he said that there have been improvements in the treatment of Pacific people, institutional racism still exists in New Zealand.

“Racism is still here, basically because the system is monocultural in it’s outlook.”

He said there was a need for all New Zealanders to start recognising themselves as migrants.

“Aotearoa is a country of migrants. We’re all migrants.”

“But we’ve got a pretty good place here. That’s why we fought for it.”

The Educate to Liberate exhibition opened at the Fresh Gallery Ōtara on April 6 and runs until May 25.

Michael Andrew is the Pacific Media Centre’s Pacific Media Watch freedom project contributing editor.

A replica of a 1970s living room in a Pacific family home. Image: Michael Andrew/PMW

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz