Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi at the Samoa citizenship bill public consultation on Monday. 1 July 2024 Photo: RNZ Pacific / Grace Tinetali-Fiavaai
Former Samoa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi has expressed his appreciation to Green Party MP Teanau Tuiono for revisiting the Restoring Citizenship Removed By Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 Bill.
However, Tuilaepa raised concerns about the Bill's conditions and the potential impact on extended family recognition.
The Bill passed its second reading unanimously in Parliament last week.
Tuiono's member's bill is a decisive move to restore citizenship rights for individuals from Western Samoa born between 1924 and 1949.
Once passed - an outcome that is highly anticipated - this Bill will ensure that those whose New Zealand citizenship was stripped away by the 1982 law will regain their citizenship automatically.
They will no longer be required to go through the standard residency and citizenship application process.
Tuilaepa told RNZ Pacific that the Bill needs to extend to all family members affected by it, as Samoan values and culture rely on the extended family, which encompasses parents and children.
"In [Samoan] culture, it is the responsibility of children to care for their parents, reflecting a deep commitment to familial duty," he said.
"It will be a pity if the great lawmakers in New Zealand, who are well-known for passing legal laws related to social issues benefiting the people of New Zealand, will again be tarnished by an oversight or fear of what may never happen."
"There will be further work to be done until justice is completely observed in relation to this human rights decision.
Tuilaepa attended the first submissions in Aotearoa in July this year, where he put forward a submission.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told reporters in New Zealand of National's support of the Bill but wants to monitor it as it progresses through Parliament.
"I mean our big concerns were that we wanted to limit the granting of citizenship to those 3500 people that were born between that period of 1924 and 1948, and actually that's been the view of all the political parties ultimately here in the Parliament through the select committee process," he told Pacific Media Network.
Tuilaepa said there are also people in the national government who are related to families from the islands and who are aware of the importance of family closeness.
"After all, we are all Christians. There is a famous lesson taught to us by the Messiah, and the lesson is: 'Do to others as you would wish others to do to you'.
"On behalf of our [Human Rights Protection Party] delegation and all those people who spoke in favour of the removal of the injustice that has been done to our people by the Muldoon Government, we offer our great appreciation for their support," he added.