Former National MP Anae Arthur Anae has launched a petition demanding a free three-month visitor visa for Pacific people.
Anae argues that New Zealand’s current immigration policies continue to discriminate against its closest neighbours.
In an interview on Pacific Mornings, Anae expresses his frustration with New Zealand's longstanding treatment of Pacific communities.
He says he has sat around for a long time watching the way the Pacific people have been treated in this country for a long time and he is frustrated with it.
Anae says at this stage of life, he thinks it is time for them to stand up and speak their mind and take it from there because the world is changing, and they cannot keep treating them the way they have for too long.
Sixty countries, including nations with little historical or cultural ties to the country, enjoy visa-free entry into New Zealand for up to three months upon arrival.
Yet, most Pacific nationals undergo a complex and often slow visa application process.
Anae points out the deep contradictions in New Zealand’s immigration policies.
He says we in the Pacific, who have stood by New Zealand at times of war, who came here from the 40s onwards to help build this nation, we are the ones who manned the factory floors back in the 50s and 60s.
He adds they were also the ones they kicked out in the 70s with dawn raids when they had their own problems, and yet, we are the neighbours.
[Source: pmn.co.nz]
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