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WELLINGTON (AFP) – Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Monday, June 14, that she would issue a formal apology to the New Zealand Pacific community for the “degrading” police raids that targeted them in the 1970s.
Ms Ardern said the notorious “dawn raids” were carried out by police and immigration officials seeking to identify and deport those who have exceeded the visa deadline.
Additionally, she said Pacific Islanders were racially profiled, with officials subjecting them to random checks and searches without justification.
“They were systematically harsh with humiliating verbal and physical treatment,” Ms. Ardern told reporters.
“The raids and what they represented created deep wounds, while we cannot change our history, we can recognize it and seek to right a wrong.”
Ms Ardern said the apology would take place on June 26 at Auckland City Hall.
New Zealand encouraged migration from Pacific islands such as Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji after World War II to fill labor shortages as the economy grew.
But they faced a backlash during a downturn in the 1970s, with claims they were cutting jobs from New Zealanders.
Pacific Peoples Minister William Sio, of Samoan origin, said the raids were “racist and discriminatory”.
Mr. Sio choked back tears as he described his own family’s experiences.
“Memories are etched in my father being helpless… someone knocks on your door early in the morning with a flashlight in your face, disrespecting the owner of our home,” he said.
“An Alsatian dog that foams in the mouth, wanting to enter without any respect for the people who live there. It was quite traumatic.”
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