DARWIN, 30 May 2004 — Move to give more independence to one of the world’s smallest and last remaining colonies are being held up by opposition from an unexpected quarter — the population of the country itself.
Tokelau, an archipelago of three minuscule coral atolls 300 miles north of Samoa, is the only remnant of New Zealand’s former Pacific colonies. Its dozens of coral islets, never more than 200m wide and five meters above sea level, support a population of 1,400 living mostly by subsistence farming and fishing.
Each atoll has a single village, and there are no harbors, no airstrips and no capital city. Visitors can reach the islands only by the weekly boat making the 30-hour voyage from the Samoan capital Apia.
First settled by Polynesians about 1,000 years ago, Tokelau became a British colony in 1889 and was passed to New Zealand in 1925. Since the mid-1970s attempts have been made to give the country its independence, but many Tokelauans now fear that the change could leave them unable to support themselves.
“There will only be self-determination when it suits Tokelau,” said Fatu Tanasiasi, a consultant to the islands’ government. “We need to have our shipping and schools up to scratch. We expect the same level of healthcare that there is in a self-governing country. One of the key issues is the level of funding.”Tokelau’s head of government, Patuki Isa’ako, told a meeting of the UN Committee of 24 on decolonization last week that the moves toward independence were being pushed by the UN and New Zealand rather than the people of Tokelau.
“Why would we want to declare to the international community we have self-determination?” he said “While we may work on intangibles such as pride of the people, pride of being self-determined, we’ve always asked the question, what’s it for? Is it going to feed our mouths? Is it going to feed our children? What good is it for future generations?”
“Life as a New Zealand colony has brought many benefits to the country. There is no poverty, no unemployment, and full literacy. Although electricity does not run 24 hours a day, all houses now have internal flush toilets. A handful of phone lines were connected in 1997. The money raised by the auction of the country’s Internet domain name has paid for a free high-speed internet cafe on Fakaofo atoll. From his house on Nukononu atoll, Luciano Perez has to walk just a few meters to reach the sea, where islanders go tuna fishing every Saturday. He wants to see a change in the country’s status only if its funding can be guaranteed.
“Independence is a good thing, but looking at the resources and things in Tokelau, I don’t know that there’s other things we’ve got to rely on. Our big provider is New Zealand,” he said. Tokelau was once so dependent on what nature provided that Tokelauan has separate systems of counting for tuna and octopus, for coconuts, and for other fish.
For an isolated group of islands whose main exports are handicrafts, stamps and coconut fiber, the 10 million NZ dollars annual aid from New Zealand makes the difference between poverty and wealth.
