At no time outside of war have economies had to face a 30 to 70% contraction as a consequence of a single cyclone. Fiji, Vanuatu and Tonga have faced this situation within this decade.
The workshop was organised by Suva-based civil society organisation, Dialogue Fiji, in collaboration with Emily’s List Australia and funded by Misereor.
Many players fear they could similarly fall victim to inadvertent positive tests through contaminated supplements, medications or the actions of their support teams.
The government says the visas will be capped at 5,000 at any one time and targeted at critical skill shortages in sectors such as healthcare, education, engineering and information technology.
Australian authorities reportedly decided to use a dedicated charter flight because some of the detainees were considered “non-compliant and disruptive”, making it difficult and unsafe
