By ANGELA GREGORY
Fears of rising oceans in their tiny homeland have seen Tuvaluans surface as the seventh-largest Pacific ethnic group in New Zealand.
They have been profiled for the first time by Statistics New Zealand.
The move has been welcomed by Tuvaluan representatives, who want to see their concerns better recognised.
Statistics
New Zealand yesterday issued its 2001 profiles of the seven largest Pacific communities in New Zealand, encouraging them to make use of the data for their people and to help improve participation in future censuses.
They are based on data from the 2001 census and follow a series based on the 1991 and 1996 censuses.
The Tuvaluan community in New Zealand more than doubled between 1996 (900) and 2001 (2000), as villagers traded their traditional island lifestyles for new opportunities, mainly in Auckland.
Tuvaluan minister the Rev Suamalie Iosefa said many were scared about the effects of global warming on the low-lying coral atolls between Fiji and Kiribati.
They also sought better education, health care and employment opportunities.
Mr Iosefa, who is also a mental health worker in Henderson, said most of the Tuvaluan community lived in West Auckland.
They were close-knit and helped the newcomers adjust to the different life.
"They need a lot of tuning up ... They come from a very microscopic country. We don't even have street lights in Tuvalu."
Mr Iosefa said the Statistics New Zealand profile was important. "We have always been a minority. I have pushed for us to have more of a voice and recognition that we are a growing population."
Government Statistician Brian Pink said members of the Pacific ethnic groups in New Zealand were increasingly likely to have been born here.
"In 2001, 70 per cent of both the Cook Island Maori and Niuean ethnic groups in New Zealand were New Zealand-born, a similar proportion to the Tokelauan ethnic group (66 per cent).
"The majority of the Samoan (58 per cent) and Tongan (53 per cent) people in New Zealand were also born here."
NZ's Pacific population
Samoan 115,000
Cook Island Maori 52,600
Tongan 40,700
Niuean 20,100
Fijian 7000
Tokelauan 6200
Tuvaluan 2000
Herald feature: Immigration
Related links
