Fiji Migration Essay

Fiji is geographically located in the Northeast direction of New Zealand and it takes approximately three hours to travel between the two countries by plane. Unlike New Zealand, which is one of the developed countries in the southern hemisphere, Fiji is relatively small in land size and also in terms of economic development. Indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians (also known as Fiji Indians) are the two dominant ethnic groups in Fiji, where the former consists of around 51 percent of the total population and the latter makes up around 43 percent. The trends of migration from Fiji to New Zealand can be traced back to 1960s when Fiji was working towards independence from Britain, however, the process of migration accelerated in the late 1980s. It was mostly the Fiji Indians emigrating out of Fiji as a result of the bitter conditions, such as racial tensions and discrimination, created by the military coup d’états in the country. …show more content…
Thus, a range of push factors that contributed to the Fiji Indian emigration process to New Zealand from the 1970s to the early 2000s will be explored in this essay. Push factors of migration, in this context, can be defined as the political instability and the socioeconomic situation or conditions that existed during this timeframe. This research essay will first discuss the political factors, such as the aftermath of independence of Fiji and the 1987 military and the 2000 civil coup d’états, that caused emigration of Fiji Indians to New Zealand. Secondly, it will discuss the culmination of the other socio-cultural and economic factors that aided this emigration