Samoa delays

liaison deal

THE Western Samoan government won’t install immigration attaches in New Zealand to deal with over stayers until the end of the year. Earlier this year the New Zealand government took up the Samoans’ offer of two im migration attaches to be located in Auck land and Wellington. But Consul-General Afamasaga Toleafoa says officials haven’t yet worked out the duties and powers of these attaches. Toleafoa says the Samoan government doesn’t want the attaches to have any enforcement powers under

New Zealand law.

“We see them as liaising with the New Zealand enforcement authorities to advise them on adopting acceptable methods for dealing with certain over stayers,” he said. Toleafoa says the attaches will be picked from qualified Sa moans already in New Zealand. “Their work will mainly be to explain to our community and to potential overstayers

their obligations and the legal implica

tions of overstaying in New Zealand,” he said.

The Samoan offer of immigration attaches was first made while Sir Robert Muldoon was Prime Minister. It was turned down. The Labour Government decided to accept the offer during the recent debate over Samoa’s special im migration quota to New Zealand. The number of Samoans gaining permanent residency doubled last year to about 4000. Some Labour Ministers wanted to dump the quota of 1100 immigrants each year, blaming Samoan migrants for contributing to New Zealand’s unem

ployment problems. Under fire from the Samoan government and local Samoan groups, the Labour Government decided to target overstayers and reduce other

categories of Samoan immigrants.

New Zealand has now resumed proces sing Samoan applications for permanent residency after a four-month halt. A re placement immigration officer has been sent to Apia after the incumbent re turned to New Zealand for family reasons. Toleafoa says it’s still too early to see how the authorities will apply the new immigration criteria and whether

permanent residency applications from

Samoans already in New Zealand will be given priority over those from Apia.

During a recent visit, Western Samoa’s Prime Minister, Tofilau Eti Alesana, had hoped to meet his recently installed counterpart, Geoffrey Palmer, and new

Immigration Minister Roger Douglas.

Both Ministers were away so Tofilau spent a week discussing immigration and overstaying problems with Samoan com munity leaders in Auckland.