New date for Dawn Raids apology after cancellation for Covid-19 scare
Thursday, 15 July 2021
The Dawn Raids apology event that was postponed due to a Covid-19 scare last month has been rearranged for August 1.
The apology was due to take place in Auckland on June 27 but was pushed back after an alert level change in Wellington prevented ministers travelling from the capital.
Wellington went into alert level 2 after a positive Sydney case flew to the capital, with 20 locations of interest identified.
The apology, announced earlier in June by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, will see the Government formally apologise to the Pasifika community for the race-based raids in the 1970’s.
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In the 1970s, Labour and National governments authorised raids on homes, workplaces and churches to check for people who had overstayed their visas.
The Dawn Raids specifically targetted suspected Pasifika overstayers, leading to prosecution or deportation.
Police “racially exploited” their power during this time, which Ardern said was unacceptable.
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio said the raids personally traumatised him and his family, with his father being helpless as police raided his home.
Sio said the apology would build a better relationship of trust and confidence with the system for the next generation of Pasifika people.
Community advocate Lisa Meto Fox said the delay was an opportunity to make the apology more accessible and more meaningful to the Pacific community.
The event is due to take place at Auckland Town Hall. The city was chosen as the location due to many of the raids occurring in Auckland.