Pacific: Deported To and From "Home"

Pacific: Deported To and From "Home"

Apia, June 6, 2011 - "I will be setting foot on a place where I will be a stranger to my own people" said Anone speaking under a pseudonym so that he could not be recognised as an interviewee during the year long research undertaken by UNESCO Office for the Pacific States into the deportation experience of Samoan and Tongan people.

The research, titled Returned to Paradise - The Deportation Experience in Samoa and Tonga, describes the experience of young men and women who have been deported from countries such as United States, New Zealand and Australia for criminal offences. The report findings show that the average length of time spent incarcerated was just over four years, with the majority serving less than two years in overseas prisons.

The experience of deportation and resettlement is often traumatic affecting deported individuals that have limited community support networks, family ties and safety nets. The average length of time outside of Samoa/Tonga for those participating in the research was just over twenty years. This places deported individuals at a higher risk of reoffending, engaging in substance abuse and poverty. Many individuals described not recognising that their "permanent resident" status allows countries to deport them for criminal offences separating them from their loved ones and their "homes".

The UNESCO report has been provided to the member countries participating at the Forum Regional Security Committee held by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in the hope of promoting further work in this area and increasing partnerships to address issues raised by the report.

ENDS

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