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A Tongan researcher in Aotearoa has found climate forced relocation is already well underway in Tonga and Samoa.
Waikato University's Lora Vaioleti found a lot of people who were planing short term moves to places like Australia and New Zealand just to earn enough money to then move back home and rebuild on land less vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis.
She says most of the people she talked to did not want to move but wanted practical hands-on support to help them adapt to climate change impacts.
Lora Vaioleti spoke with RNZ Pacific reporter Grace Fiavaai about the research.