Plane Passages

From Fiji For Repatriates

INDIANS who are still entitled to repatriation to India at Govern ment expense are being offered tourist plane passages to Sydney and tourist sea passages from Syd ney to Bombay.

This system, which includes the provision of meals and accommo dation for the short stay at Sydney before the ship leaves, has been adopted because there are now no direct ships between India and Fiji.

The last Calcutta-Suva ship sailed in 1951, and there seems to be little chance of a resumption of the service.

Since 1951, the Fiji Government has been making cash grants of £6O, leaving the repatriate to find his own way to India, but for un specified reasons the cash grant system has been stopped.

The first travellers under the new system will leave Nadi on July 6 and other groups will follow at regular intervals.

Those entitled to free passages to India are (1) Indians who went to Fiji under the indenture system; (2) children of those who arrived on or before May 31, 1906; (3) Fiji born children, under the age of 12,

i9o6 hose who arrived after Ma y 31, T^|r 7 r 7 indei i ture astern originated m 1877 and was ended in 1916.

More than 63,000 Indians were in troduced as indentured labourers, and by 1923 nearly 25,000 had been repatriated.

At the end of 1954 the Indian

population of Fiji was estimated at 160,000. (Probably the “unspecified reason’ 1 why the £6O grants have been stopped is that no repatriate has been abie to get from Fiji to India via Sydney, for £6o—“tourist” class or any other).