Pacific communities sign petition to save ‘climate refugees’ from deportation

Around 150 members of Auckland’s Kiribati and Tuvalu communities attended a public meeting in Sunnyvale on Monday night to show their support for Kiribati native Ioane Teitiota.

Mr Teitioita, his wife, and their three children face deportation because the court won’t accept Mr Teitiota’s claim that they are climate change refugees.

The two Pacific communities gathered to sign a petition, which Kiribati community leader Reverend Iosefa Suamalie intended to present to Prime Minister John Key in Wellington today [Tuesday].

The message from the crowd on Monday was clear. The family should stay: firstly because of rising sea levels that threaten the population of Kiribati, but also because Mr Teitiota’s three children are all born and raised in New Zealand.

They have never set foot in Kiribati and the communities fear for their future.

The family’s lawyer, Michael Kidd, shares this fear.

“It’s utterly hypocritical of the government to allow 850 Syrian refugees to come to New Zealand, and not let people from the Pacific stay. And in this particular case, Mr Teitiota has three children. If there was a king tide in Kiribati, the littlest one could die,” Mr Kidd said at the meeting.

The Teitiota family has fought to be recognised as climate change refugees since 2011, but on Monday the Supreme Court made the final ruling. The decision found that Mr Teitiota and his family would have to return to their native country on Wednesday.

The decision has met resistance, not only from Pacific people, but also from Labour MP Phil Twyford.

“As Ioane’s local Member of Parliament, I have asked the Associate Minister of Immigration, Craig Foss, to use the powers that he has under the law of the land to intervene. He has the power right up until the moment the plane leaves the runway,” said Twyford.

“And if he can’t find it in himself to exercise the passion and common sense to allow Ioane and his family to stay in this country, then I don’t think he’s doing his job properly,” he said.

.

150 people from Auckland's Tuvalu and Kiribati community showed up in Sunnyvale to support the family. Photo: Ida Brock.

Need to put pressure on government

According to lawyer Michael Kidd, the Kiribati and Tuvalu communities are doing the right thing by presenting a petition to the Parliament.

“I’m sure that if you make lots of publicity about this deportation, the government will back down. The government usually backs down under pressure because they know it will cost votes if they don’t,” he told the group.

Labour MP Su’a William Sio agreed with Mr Kidd’s statement.

“About three weeks ago, the government had a problem with international refugees, mainly Syrians. And it was because of public opinion and advocacy of opposition parties that they changed their minds,” said Mr Sio.

He emphasised once more that the family should get to stay and that New Zealanders should focus on the future of the children.

“The children were born here. This is the only home they know,” he said.

The concept of home was also the focus when Reverend Iosefa Suamalie made his closing statement on Monday night.

“There’s no home to send this family back to. Try to put yourself in their place. Would you sleep well tonight knowing you had to return to a home that’s not there? Climate change is real, and the voices of the Pacific are loud. Let this family stay,” said Reverend Suamalie.

The petition also requested that the New Zealand government work with the member states of the Pacific Forum to “provide a future for the people of Kiribati and Tuvalu whose countries are sinking below rising sea levels” and to “commit to emission reduction targets that will keep global warming at 1.5 degrees”.