November 17, 2022
No logic to visa waiver policy says Green
Green MP Teanau Tuiono says the Government’s refusal to waive visas for visitors from Pacific Island countries other than Samoa doesn’t stack up.
Teanau Tuiono says he has asked Immigration Minister Michael Wood why the visa waiver isn’t extend to all Pacifika families when there are waivers for visitors from countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.
The only plausible explanation seems to be that immigration officials assume they will over-stay their visas.
“If we remember back to the dawn raids period, because that’s thrown around quite a bit, what we should also remember is that while they were targeting Pasifika people as overstayers, most of the overstayers actually came from the UK and came from countries with white people. It didn’t stack up then and it doesn’t stack up today,” he says.