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🇫🇯 Fiji /Culture & Society

Fiji Committee Urges Intelligence-Led Immigration Enforcement

From FBC News · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • A Fijian parliamentary committee recommends shifting immigration enforcement from a complaint-driven model to a proactive, intelligence-led approach.
  • The committee highlighted risks from fraudulent documentation, worker exploitation, and trafficking, urging stronger enforcement of removal orders and better intelligence systems.
  • Recommendations include investing in technology and training, enhancing accountability for employers exploiting foreign workers, and ensuring consistent execution of removal orders.

Fiji's immigration enforcement needs a significant overhaul, moving from a reactive, complaint-driven system to a proactive, intelligence-led strategy, according to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. Committee Chairperson Lenora Qereqeretabua presented the committee's findings in Parliament, based on a review of annual reports from the Office of the Prime Minister and the Fijian Immigration Department covering 2019 to 2023.

Qereqeretabua expressed concern that investigations remain largely dependent on public complaints, while issues like fraudulent documentation, permit breaches, worker exploitation, and trafficking continue to pose substantial risks to the nation. The committee's consolidated review underscores the need for "stronger enforcement of removal orders, greater investment in intelligence systems, and a shift from complaint-driven enforcement towards proactive and intelligence-led detection."

We therefore recommend stronger enforcement of removal orders, greater investment in intelligence systems, and a shift from complaint-driven enforcement towards proactive and intelligence-led detection.

— Lenora QereqeretabuaPresenting the committee's recommendations for immigration enforcement.

To support this transition, the committee recommends equipping immigration officials with appropriate technology and enhanced training. Furthermore, it calls for more robust enforcement of immigration removal orders, noting that these orders are issued but not consistently executed. The committee also stressed the importance of holding employers accountable for exploiting foreign workers, emphasizing the Immigration Department's crucial role in safeguarding Fiji's borders and managing the entry and stay of foreign nationals.

Parliament unanimously agreed to note the contents of the report. The review period encompassed the COVID-19 pandemic and the Immigration Department's transition into a standalone ministry, highlighting the evolving challenges and the need for adaptive enforcement strategies. The proposed shift aims to bolster national security and ensure a more effective management of immigration processes.

These measures are important given Immigration’s role in protecting Fiji’s borders and managing the entry and stay of foreign nationals.

— Lenora QereqeretabuaExplaining the significance of the proposed immigration reforms.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by FBC News in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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