Ardern apologises for immigration raids on Pacific community

MELBOURNE, AUG 1 (REUTERS) - New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern issued a sombre state apology on Sunday to the Pacific community for racially targeted immigration raids in the 1970s that resulted in deportations and prosecutions.

The “Dawn Raids”, which often occurred early in the morning, took place from 1974 to 1976 when New Zealand’s economy was in a downturn and the government clamped down on immigrant workers from the Pacific who overstayed their work visas.

Addressing hundreds of people in attendance for the formal apology, Ardern said members of the Pacific communities continue to “suffer and carry the scars” of the raids in which they were specifically targeted and racially profiled.

“Today, I stand on behalf of the New Zealand government to offer a formal and unreserved apology to Pacific communities for the discriminatory implementation of the immigration laws of the 1970s that led to the events of the Dawn Raids,” Ardern said.