Prime Minister Feleti Sevele admitted that “specialized skills and programs are needed to deal with the basic needs of deportees.”
“That is the reason why I directed that this national workshop be held to bring together representatives from government departments, the churches, and civil society organizations to ascertain how we can work together to meet those needs,” he said.
Records show that 443 Tongans were deported home between 2002 and 2007.
Of these, 173 were deported from New Zealand, 116 from the United States, 40 from Australia, 11 from Fiji, one from American Samoa, and 99 from other countries.
Churches and civil society groups in Tonga operate separate programs to rehabilitate deportees on their return home
The Wesleyan Church runs a program called Coming Home while the deportees have formed the Ironman Ministry.
“It is impossible for the government alone to meet the deportees’ basic needs or resolve the problems the face. You must continue your programs for deportees and at the same time we must cooperate with each other. That is the only way that we can overcome the problems that confront us,” Sevele said.
