Te Waiariki MP and Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi says a recent raid in Ōpōtiki is another example of police operations disregarding the wellbeing of marginalized communities, particularly affecting tamariki.
Last week, as part of a coordinated North Island operation targeting the Mongrel Mob, police executed multiple search warrants, including 15 houses in Ōpōtiki, resulting in 22 arrests.
Waititi says this operation, like many others before it, targets Māori communities with gang affiliations, often involving individuals who have disproportionately grown up in state care.
“As this government apologizes, which I believe is going to be an empty apology at least a week to the survivors of people who have been abused in state care and the gangs that grew out of that. They continue to perpetuate that abuse by targeting highly populated Māori communities like Ōpōtiki, this government at least, is really looking at itself, says Waititi.
The official public apology will take place on November 12 at the Parliament Buildings in Wellington, with attendance limited to 300 survivors.
