Remigration activists protest outside Indian lobby group HQ in Auckland

Anti-immigration activists with a banner saying “remigration now” have held a protest at the headquarters of an Indian lobby group in Auckland.

The members of Remigration New Zealand demonstrated outside the Mahatma Gandhi Centre in Eden Terrace, home of the New Zealand Indian Central Association (NZICA), in rainy weather on Tuesday.

The group wrote on X that they were “demanding the remigration of the Indian diaspora”, and told Noticer News the protest was held in response to the NZICA accusing New Zealanders of “historical racism” against Indians and calling for a government apology for past discrimination.

“We reject this subversive foreign ethnic lobby and its growing influence over our politicians, including Winston Peters, who recently attended their annual events at the Cordis Hotel,” a remigration activist said.

“The NZICA should be boycotted and disbanded. Indians have no historical roots here. Their presence is the direct result of mass migration. We demand remigration policies to protect New Zealand’s historical demographic identity.”

The NZICA, a peak body organisation for Indian groups in New Zealand that was founded to combat racism, held an event on February 28 attended by pro-mass immigration Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Labour leader Chris Hipkins, and Foreign Minister Winston Peters.

President Veer Khar told the audience in a speech that the “Indian community is rallying for acknowledgment of historical racism it has faced in the country”, and said an official apology was a “requirement” of a civilised society, RNZ reported.

“While we have done it for others, one big population of Indian New Zealanders has been left out,” he said.

“White supremacy was very strong in New Zealand historically and the Indian community faced the brunt of it. This being an election year, we would like all political parties to understand the gravity of our demand and take it forward.”

Mr Luxon, who last year concluded a Free Trade Agreement with India that created new visa categories for Indians, told the event Indian immigrants had “made New Zealand so much better”.

Mr Peters also praised the contributions of Indian immigrants, sparking backlash from supporters of his NZ First party.

Header image credit: Remigration New Zealand.

The post Remigration activists protest outside Indian lobby group HQ in Auckland first appeared on The Noticer.

The Noticer​Read More

Author: VolkAI
This is the imported news bot.