Samoans look for easier entry to New Zealand

Samoa, where the Pacific Islands Forum starts tomorrow, wants entry to New Zealand to be made easier for its citizens. Pacific issues reporter ANGELA GREGORY visited Samoa and describes the mood there.

At the side of the main coastal road on Upolo Island, Samoa, two young girls giggle and pose for a photo, baring decay-riddled teeth. April, 9, and Louisa, 8, are from Falefa village, about a half-hour drive east of Apia, and insist they have never heard of New Zealand.

"You give us money?" asks April, suddenly straightfaced.

Along the same road strolls 24-year-old Ameberosi - he doesn't want to give his surname - who cheerfully admits he was caught as an overstayer at his uncle's home in Mangere and sent back to Apia last month.

His 1-year-old son was born in New Zealand, and Amberosi, in halting English, says he is annoyed the family won't be allowed back for five years.

New Zealanders imagine Samoans lining up to come here. But the attitude under the palm trees is much more ambivalent.

Village woman Joyce Sootaga, 43, says she has been to New Zealand but is happier living in Samoa - a "very good" country.

Her friend Faasalafa Tamese, 45, also wants to stay put but would like some of her 11 children to go to school in New Zealand for greater opportunities.

That is also the view of solo mother Palagi Fanualelei, 32, who cares for six children aged from two to 12 on the small wages she earns as a part-time housegirl to supplement the support she gets from her extended family.

On the other side of the island, mother of three Epi Moala, 29, one of Samoa's best fine mat weavers, is happy with her traditional way of living at her village, Matatufu.

She does not envisage a future for her children in New Zealand. Nor does her cousin Faaolataga Samau, 22, who looks scornful at a suggestion that they might consider abandoning their simple life.

But Samoans value their ties to New Zealand and there is a groundswell of desire for easier entry to the country.

On June 29, about 3000 people marched in stormy weather to the Government headquarters in Apia and delivered a submission to their Prime Minister protesting against New Zealand's immigration policies.

The protest followed another larger march just over a year earlier when Samoans presented a petition to the New Zealand High Commission office in Apia calling for the repeal of the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982.

That was the act hurriedly put through Parliament by the Muldoon Government after a Privy Council ruling opened the way to automatic citizenship for Samoans born between 1924 and 1948 and their children.

Those years covered the period when New Zealand administered what was known as Western Samoa.

In Wellington last month, a parliamentary select committee rejected a 100,000-signature petition against the act gathered in Samoa and New Zealand.

But the Government seems ready to accept the select committee's recommendation to review the 1962 Treaty of Friendship, a charter for consultation between the two countries, signed when Samoa became the first Polynesian nation to re-establish independence in the 20th century.

The review will consider improving the quota system which allows New Zealand residency for 1100 people a year from Samoa. A change to the quota rules requiring that applicants' job offers be verified has been widely criticised.

Immigration Service figures given to the Herald show that only 620 quota places were filled in the 2002/03 year, and 677 places by June 4 in the 2003/04 financial year.

In New Zealand, a leading advocate of easier access is Samoan-born former National MP Arthur Anae.

Anae wants a system under which Samoans can gain entry with a multi-purpose visa under certain conditions.

These would include not being eligible for social welfare without permanent residency and requirements for compulsory medical insurance, a police clearance and prompt deportation back to Samoa for anyone who commits a crime.

Anae says the current requirement that Samoans must find a job with a minimum annual wage of $15,000 is unrealistic.

In Apia the chairman of the Mau Sitiseni Niu Sila Mo Samoa - the local citizenship committee - Leota Ale, says Samoans view New Zealand as their second home.

"When something happens, a relative is sick or has died, they need to be on the plane in no time."

But the visa requirements are time-consuming and costly.

Leotoa says Samoans believe their right to choose dual citizenship was taken away by the 1982 legislation.

"And it's about time New Zealanders recognised the contribution of Samoans to their country in areas like sports and professions."

Leota does not like comparisons with Pacific countries such as Niue, which has 1300 of its people at home and nearly 20,000 in New Zealand.

There are about 180,000 Samoans in Samoa and 120,000 in New Zealand.

"Niue is a little rock ... this is a lush paradise. Samoa is different. New Zealand should understand that. Fears we will overstay are not founded."

Leota says Samoans have close-knit family ties that draw them back to the islands. It has 86 per cent of its land in customary title and a strong matai (chiefly) system.

His committee secretary, Maiava Peteru, says not all Samoans want to go to New Zealand but they do want the choice.

Despite claims to the contrary, the Auckland-born lawyer insists Samoans were never consulted over the 1982 legislation.

"The people feel a wrong has been done that has never been put right."

Maiava says it is not uncommon for Samoan parents to circumvent the rules and adopt their children to New Zealand relatives as a means of gaining citizenship for them.

"They do not like it but have no choice if they want to give their kids the best educational opportunities."

She says that Samoa - "where it is easy these days to get a cappucino" - has developed hugely in the last 20 years and now has much more to attract its people home.

"It is time New Zealanders ditched their phobia about Samoa and recognised its unique relationship with the country."

Opposition leader Asiata Saleimoa Vaai says his Samoa Democratic United Party supports the efforts to repeal the 1982 act, but knows it is unlikely to happen.

But the visa issue needs urgent attention, he says, and accuses the Samoan Government of slacking.

Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Silele Malielegaoi agrees there is a need to simplify the processing of visas and improve the quota system.

"I have already exchanged notes with the Prime Minister [Helen Clark] ... but I tend to blame the New Zealand bureaucracy [Immigration Service] for the bottlenecks, not the Government."

He understands why Samoans feel unfairly treated, but also recognises New Zealand's problem with Samoans who do not comply with the terms of entry and overstay.

Tuilaepa sees some risks to the Samoan workforce in making it easier to go to New Zealand.

"There are the points of view - 'don't worry, they will come back' ... I see a lot who go over and don't."


The Herald has seen a confidential document which shows that a trial waiver of visas for Samoan visitors in 1986 was suspended after 10 weeks because it was abused.

Of the 5254 people who arrived in New Zealand, fewer than half turned up for their return flights home, and many remain unaccounted for.

Immigration Service figures show that on April 28 this year, New Zealand had 3900 Samoan overstayers - the most from any one country - compared with 2050 Chinese and 2496 Tongans.

Money is a big reason for staying on - the minimum wage in Samoa is equivalent to about 80c an hour, and remittances from Samoan earners around the world brought their country $190 million of foreign revenue last year.

Deputy Prime Minister Misa Telefoni says the $60 million sent back by New Zealand Samoans proves they must be doing all right.

As a lawyer, Misa went to Wellington in 1982 to try to stop the citizenship legislation being enacted.

While he must now as a Government representative keep a "respectful distance" from the issue, it irks him that New Zealand allows visa-free access to people from 46 countries including Germany with which it has been to war with twice.

He wants to ensure the quota is filled every year, and advocates visa-free entry for three months.

"But the Samoan Government has got to be active in ensuring they return."

Misa acknowledges concerns that too many Samoans might leave, but says "we lose some, we gain some".

Lance Polu, editor of the weekly newspaper Le Samoa, believes the steadily improving quality of life in Samoa is drawing more Samoans back.

"This place has changed a lot from 10 years ago. It is an attractive option to come back because there is a better way of life."

Former South Auckland police inspector Tyrone Laurenson, 53, has returned for a police-related assignment in Apia.

Born in Grey Lynn, he was deprived of the opportunity to speak Samoan in case it held him back at school.

Laurenson is committed to a new life in his parents' home country, but admits his struggle with the language is a handicap.

While he grew up with the Samoan culture at home the experience in Samoa had been "a bit scary" and he is taking language classes to catch up.

"What I perceived as Samoan culture is very different here."

Laurenson says that although the average wage in Samoa is only about $5000 he believes Samoans are willing to come back and settle.

He encourages improved immigration relations with New Zealand, remembering the unpleasant times in the 1970s when he had to pull his own people off Auckland streets for deportation during the era of dawn raids.

Wellington-born lawyer Brenda Heather-Latu, 42, left a good job working for the New Zealand Attorney General after meeting her Samoan husband George Latu.

When she arrived in Apia in 1996, she says, there were four or five well-educated New Zealand-Samoans like her.

"Now there are around 50 or 60 including teachers, psychologists, artists and business people."

Samoa's Attorney General Heather-Latu was the first New Zealand-born Samoan to head a Government department in Apia.

"There is always that question ... whether you will be as competent as they are."

Heather-Latu says New Zealand Samoans have been criticised as brash, loud, and lacking respect because they do not understand fa'aa Samoa (the Samoan way) or the matai system.

She at least has the advantage of being able to speak Samoan: "Your language is your ticket to your culture."


Heather-Latu sees the problems with entry to New Zealand as a major query to what the special relationship between the countries means. For her it is straightforward.

"Whether the plane is taking off from Auckland or Apia you are leaving home to go home."

Christchurch-born Geoff Siave decided to bring his Pakeha wife and young family to Samoa to explore that heritage connection.

He is working as a school principal in Apia, probably for about four years, to better understand his Samoan background. Siave is happy with the decision and his family is thriving, but he does not see the move as permanent.

Some Samoans arrive back with less enthusiasm. A 15-year-old Samoan-born but Wellington-raised boy who was getting into trouble in New Zealand was sent to relatives in a small village on the southern side of Upolo Island.

His new school principal Tuputala Lene says he is resisting some Samoan ways, such as the use of the language at school, but she is being firm.

"He makes excuses not to come to class, like a sore stomach, but I just send him off to the toilet and then to the library."

Other youths have also been sent back under a cloud. "I don't mind dealing with them," she says with resolve.

* Angela Gregory and Dean Purcell's visit was sponsored by the Pacific Co-operation Foundation. For further information about the foundation phone (04) 473-9402 or email pcf@xtra.co.nz.