While many PasIfika people in Aotearoa are rejoicing following the government's "Dawn Raids" announcement, others are concerned how the trauma to whanau caused by the race-based police and immigration raids in the 1970scan be rectified
Green Party Pacific people spokesperson Teanau Tuiono is elated at the government’s announcement it will formally apologise for the police and immigration raids conducted late at night and early in the morning to search for overstayers.
“I aua rā, kaore te tangata e mohio ana ko tēhea te Māori, ko tēhea te mea No Te Moana Nui a Kiwa. He kiri paraone te kiri paraone.
“Heoi ano, ko te nuinga o ngā overstayers i aua rā he kiritea no ingarangi no wāhi kē atu no reira he kaikiri rawa atu tēnei.
“Back then, they couldn't tell who was Māori or Pacific Islander," he said. "Brown-skinned people are brown-skinned people. The reality is a lot of the overstayers at the time were fair-skinned, Europeans. This was racist.”
He is, however, sceptical about whether the government will go beyond the apology to undo the harm caused by the raids. He’s committed to pushing for some action to be taken by this government to fix the “broken immigration system” and to also include the history of the dawn raids in the school curriculum.
“It needs to be made compulsory to learn about this for all students. At the moment it's up to the teacher to decide what they should or shouldn't learn. But it needs to be made so that all students learn”
A new generation
Benji Timu, a young Pacific activist, has been committed to seeking reparations for generations of suffering inflicted on his whānau, and community. He and his friend Josiah Tualamali'I launched a petition in February calling for an apology for the dawn raids. The petition gathered over seven thousand signatures.
He says the after-effects of the raids continued to be felt to this day
“As traumatic as these events were, the real hurt happened years after when they began to grow a massive distrust in the government and the police, the very people that look after us.
"So, relief for myself, not just for myself but for my people as well so we're able to restore that mamae that's been happening for the last 50 years," Timmu says.
National leader Judith Collins wasn’t available for an interview today but in a statement she said she welcomed an apology for the anguish and discrimination suffered by Pasefika people
"The Pasifika community is a significant part of the multicultural society that makes this country special and we hope this apology will go some way towards helping these communities heal she said.
Timu is confident this issue goes beyond political allegiances but is an issue that affects many.
“This is validation that this isn't about politics. This is about righting a wrong that was done a long time ago. ... Our political standpoint doesn't matter because this was a clearly racist act.”
The official apology is scheduled for the end of this month and is expected to be well attended by people directly and indirectly impacted by that dark part of New Zealand history