Why did Samoan people move to nz?

• New Zealand became a popular destination for Samoans due to closer historical ties, similar institutions and cultural affinities.

• Early Samoan migrants had professional qualifications, such as teachers and nurses.

• The establishment of airline links between Apia and Auckland during World War II, helped to ease travel for Samoans.

• Increased remittances helped Samoa and increased the potential for families to be self-reliant.

• Samoans were motivated by the better employment opportunities and higher wages for semi-skilled and unskilled workers.

• The economic crisis of the late 1970s and early 1980s and Samoa's growing population increased the numbers travelling to New Zealand looking for work.

• Political instability in Samoa in the 1980s and 1990s also encouraged further migration.

Additional contributing factors

• The immigration reforms in the 1980s in NZ meant that Pacific people in NZ were given resident status, which made further migration easier.

• The removal of the ‘Island Permit’ system.

• New Zealand’s Closer Economic Relations agreement with Australia, which began in 1983. This resulted in NZ citizens and permanent residents having reciprocal rights to live, work and study in Australia indefinitely, which Samoans were able to access once they obtained NZ citizenship.