By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific Journalist
An immigration expert thinks visa-free travel should not be extended to visitors from Pacific Island nations, while the New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says it is not a priority.
The Green Party is launching a petition, asking the government to extend visa-free travel to visitors from Pacific Island countries.
The free movement of people in the region has also been advocated for by Pacific leaders in recent years, including from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
Close to 60 countries are currently able to access New Zealand without a visa, but not one is a Pacific Island nation.
Fijian lawyer Lavi Rokoika, practicing in the Cook Islands and Fiji, is surprised that they are not on the list.
“This is something that’s been a long-time waiting for Pacific Islanders, especially with the relationship that smaller Pacific Island countries have with Australia and New Zealand,” Rokoika said.
However, an immigration license advisor, June Ranson, does not thing visa-free travel is a good idea.
“Pacific Island people are a really lovely people. But they do have a very high-risk of overstaying in New Zealand,” Ranson said.
“There is not a strong enough reason for these people to return home, what I believe should happen is that New Zealand should give stronger support to the Pacific Islands and to build up their infrastructure to get the work opportunities for the people over there.”
Rokoika agrees that overstayers are a concern, “like any other country”, but a blanket no for visa free travel for Pacific Islanders is not the only way to mitigate the problem.
“It’s a legitimate concern but there are other ways in which New Zealand is able to cater to those concerns.”
Luxon said that Pacific visa-free travel was not a focus.
“It is something that we continue to consider,” he said. “But right now, it is not a priority for us in light of the other priorities that we need to focus the system on and focus immigration New Zealand on.”
While Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said she was “not going to talk about the things we are talking about” but New Zealand had a close relationship with the Pacific.
When asked by RNZ if Pacific countries pose more risk than the 60 countries currently on the visa-waiver list, she said more than 120 countries are not visa waiver.
“It is not a given, most countries do not have that status and it is something that we look at on a case by case basis.”
Greens’ Pacific peoples spokesperson Teanau Tuiono said the current situation meant “our closest relatives and neighbours” were unable to easily visit.
“It is incredibly frustrating for many of us who have those connections across the Pacific whose relatives want to come over and spend time with us,” Tuiono said.
With international tensions rising in the region, Tuiono said it is important to allow for visa-free access in the region.
He said there is embedded racism in the system that favours people from European countries.
“If you look at what’s happening in the Pacific, the geopolitical tensions playing out, we gain a lot of our mana on the international stage by making sure that we have those strong relationships.”
“Doing this, makes sure that we have those strong relationships.”
