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PRIME MINISTER OFFERS FORMAL APOLOGY FOR DAWN RAIDS OF THE 1970s AGAINST PACIFIC COMMUNITIES The Association welcomes the Government's announcement that a Formal Apology will be offered later this month to Pacific Communities affected by the Dawn Raids of the 1970s when Police and Immigration agencies rounded up overstayers from the Islands. Pacific Communities Minister/Associate Foreign Minister, Hon Aupito Sio and Prime Minister Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern announced on 14 June 2021.
The Association notes that in a ripple effect of these raids, fear and insecurity were transferred to many Fijian Indians, who had worked as temporary scrub cutters and farm workers when required but whose subsequent immigration status became blurred and the overstayer stigma remaining for some time. Several attempts were made by the Association to remedy this including, meetings held with Ministers and officials.
Despite the fact, the current Government had nothing to do with what transpired in the 1970s, the Association thanks the Ardern Government for making the Apology as a way to bring some degree of closure to a past wrong.
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