Maori and Pacific Island people have protested in Auckland and other cities all over New Zealand on Tuesday. On the one hand they were protesting the building of government housing on land sacred to them, on the other the were marching against the forced removal of children from families, known as „uplifting“.
The forced removal of children has a long tradition against Aborigines children (the native people of Australia). This was part of the imperialist oppression. From the beginning of the 20th century until as late as the 1970ies, one in ten, in some areas one in three children were removed from Aborigines families and “integrated” into Australian society and Australian families, these children are known as the "stolen generation". It can be seen as a form of forced assimilation and oppression of native people by an imperialist nation.
Last year in New Zealand, 281 babies have been forcefully removed from their mother by the state child services “Oranga Tamariki”. Of these children, 71% were of Maori or Pacific Island heritage. They are speaking about their own "stolen generation".
While the government spoke about “allowing children to heal and recover”, they can not hide the fact that in the second half of 2018, there were over 300 instances of neglect, emotional, sexual or physical abuse of children in the care of “Organa Tamariki”. As long as capital rules in New Zealand, the Maori children will never be allowed to “heal and recover”.
The nation-wide protests were sparked by an especially cruel case of authorities attempting to take a seven days old baby from it’s mother in the hospital. The New Zealand workers need to support the justified struggle of the Maori and Pacific Island people, because this attack on their future is an attack on the working class, attempting to split them with racism.
