New Zealand apologises for racist ‘Dawn Raids’ against Pacific community in 1970s
- After helping to fill labour shortages, Pacific workers were targeted for overstaying their visas when New Zealand experienced a downturn
- Even though many overstayers at the time were American or British nationals, only the Pacific community was targeted for deportation
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern issued a sombre state apology on Sunday to the Pacific community for racially targeted immigration raids in the 1970s that resulted in deportations and prosecutions.
During the economic boom of the 1950s, many people from the Pacific Islands were encouraged to work in New Zealand to fill labour shortages in factories and fields. But two decades later when the economy slumped, anti-immigrant sentiment rose.
People who did not look like white New Zealanders were told they should carry identification to prove they were not overstayers, and were often randomly stopped in the street, or even at schools or churches.
Even though many overstayers at the time were British or American, only Pacific people were targeted for deportation.
Police officers and immigration officials, often accompanied by dogs, raided the homes of many Pacific workers suspected of being overstayers. Some people were physically removed from their beds in pyjamas at dawn and taken away for questioning.