Dawn Raids
The Dawn Raids were a series of raids carried out at random by the New Zealand police during the mid 1970's against immigrants. These raids were a result of the New Zealand Economic crash of the late 1960's and early 1970's which resulted in unemployment and other social issues. Police had specifically (and in some cases unintentionally) targeted Polynesians in these dawn raids in the Government's attempt to crack down on over stayers living in New Zealand. Many Polynesians saw this as discriminatory and unfair as they saw that the Police were only conducting these raids on them even though their were over-stayers from all parts of the world such as Canada, Australia, and South Africa. Those who were not able to provide papers and passports were deported as soon as the next day back to their original country. This sparked controversy among New Zealanders and foreigh countries. A group known as the Polynesian Panthers played a heavy role in protest of the dawn raids.
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The dawn raids were shameful because, in essence, they set out to pick up anyone who didn’t look like a pakeha or palangi New Zealander. They swooped on on people who were Maori, they swooped on many Pasifika people who had absolutely lawful residence in New Zealand. It was a painful time to be a Pacific Islander in New Zealand I don't think it's something we should hide from. |
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