The dawn raids were crackdowns in New Zealand from 1973 to 1979 and then sporadically afterward on alleged illegal overstayers from the Pacific Islands. The raids were first introduced in 1973 by Prime Minister Norman Kirk's Labour government, who discontinued them in April 1974. However, they were later reintroduced and intensified by Rob Muldoon's Third National government.^[1][2] These operations involved special police squads conducting often aggressive raids on the homes and workplaces of overstayers throughout New Zealand, usually at dawn and almost exclusively directed at Pasifika New Zealanders, regardless of their citizenship status.^[3] Overstayers and their families were often prosecuted and then deported back to their countries.^[4][5]

The dawn raids were particularly controversial since Pacific Islanders made up only one-third of overstayers but accounted for 86% of those arrested and prosecuted.^[3] The majority of overstayers were from Great Britain, Europe, South Africa, and the United States.^[4][6] Effects were particularly felt in Auckland, where two-thirds of the Pasifika community lived at the time.^[7] The city's Māori community were also adversely affected because of the similarities in appearance between many Māori and Pasifika. The police controversially told Māori to carry a passport with them, in case they were stopped by police on suspicion of being illegal immigrants.^[8] The raids continued until 1979, when they were halted by the Muldoon government as deporting migrant workers was a burden on the struggling economy, but they continued sporadically until the early 1980s.^[4]

The raids contributed firmly to the genesis of pan-Pasifika ethnic identity, today one of New Zealand's major ethnic communities,^[9] and led to the growth of social justice groups such as the Polynesian Panthers to resist the raids.^[7] Dr Melani Anae of the University of Auckland has described the raids as "the most blatantly racist attack on Pacific peoples by the New Zealand government in New Zealand’s history".^[7]

The raids deteriorated New Zealand's diplomatic ties with Pacific Island countries^[4] and have met with widespread condemnation in the following years. Prime Minister Helen Clark condemned the raids as "shameful" in 2002 while giving a formal apology to Samoa for New Zealand's colonial administration.^[10][7] In early August 2021, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern formally apologised for the dawn raids on behalf of the New Zealand Government.^[11][12][13]

The dawn raids were a product of the New Zealand government's immigration policies to attract more Pacific Islanders. Since the 1950s, the New Zealand government had encouraged substantial emigration from several Pacific countries including Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji to fill a labour shortage caused by the post-war economic boom. Consequently, the Pacific Islander population in New Zealand had grown to 45,000 by 1971, with a substantial number overstaying their visas.^[14] During the late 1960s and early 1970s, New Zealand's economy had declined due to several international developments: a decline in international wool prices in 1966, Britain joining the European Economic Community in 1973 which deprived New Zealand of a major market for dairy products, and the 1973 oil crisis. This economic downturn led to increased crime, unemployment and other social ailments, which disproportionately affected the Pacific Islander community.^[15]

The dawn raids were condemned by different sections of New Zealand society including members of the Pacific Islander and Māori communities, church groups, employers and workers' unions, anti-racist groups, and the opposition Labour Party, despite the policy being of its own making. One Pacific group known as the Polynesian Panthers combated the dawn raids by providing legal aid to detainees and staging retaliatory "dawn raids" on several National cabinet ministers including Bill Birch and Frank Gill, the Minister of Immigration. The Citizens Association for Racial Equality (CARE) staged protests and succeeded in convincing the British crew of a cruise ship that was supposed to deport Tongan overstayers to refuse to sail with the deportees. The overstayers, however, were subsequently deported on an Air New Zealand flight.^[16] The Auckland Committee on Racism and Discrimination (ACORD) and Amnesty Aroha published leaflets highlighting unfair treatment from the police and courts.^[20] The raids were also criticised by elements of the police and the ruling National Party for damaging race relations with the Pacific Island community.^[21] Kim Workman, who was a senior sergeant in Lower Hutt at the time, left the police force over his opposition to the racism displayed in the police response.^[22]

Critics also pointed out that the dawn raids unfairly targeted Pasifika New Zealanders, since Pacific Islanders only comprised one-third of the overstayers but made up 86% of those arrested and prosecuted for overstaying. Often, Pasifika citizens were targeted too.^[3] The majority of overstayers were from Great Britain, South Africa and the United States.^[4][6] The Muldoon government's treatment of overstayers also damaged relations with Pacific countries like Samoa and Tonga, and generated criticism from the South Pacific Forum. By 1979, the Muldoon government terminated the dawn raids since the deportation of Pacific over-stayers had failed to alleviate the ailing New Zealand economy.^[4]

During the late 1970s and 1980s, Pacific migrants continued to enter and settle in New Zealand through both legal and illegal means. In 2002, the New Zealand Government introduced a Samoan immigration quota that allowed 1,100 Samoan citizens each year to receive New Zealand residency provided they had a job offer and met other immigration requirements. In addition, the Government introduced a Pacific Access category which set quotas for people from Tonga, Fiji, Tuvalu and Kiribati to be granted residency in New Zealand. Pitcairn Islanders were also considered eligible for residence provided they had a firm job offer in NZ.^[3]

In April 2021, members of the Pasifika community called for an official apology, describing the dawn raids as "government‑sanctioned racism".^[23]

On 14 June 2021, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed that the New Zealand Government would formally apologise for the dawn raids at the Auckland Town Hall on 26 June 2021.^[24] However, this official apology was postponed due to COVID-19 in New Zealand. That same day though, the Minister for Pacific Peoples William Sio gave an emotional testimony of his family's experiences with a dawn raid, stating that the apology restored mana for the victims of these raids.^[25][6] The opposition National Party leader Judith Collins also supported the Government's official apology for the dawn raids, stating that "this historic act of discrimination against our Pasifika communities caused anguish that reverberated across decades and it is right that we acknowledge this".^[6]

While the apology was originally scheduled to be held on 26 June, it was later postponed to 1 August due to the Wellington COVID-19 scare in June 2021.^[26] On 1 August, this formal apology was finally given by Ardern in a public ifoga ceremony before 1,000 Pasifika guests at the Auckland Town Hall on 1 August, 2021.^[27][11] As part of the apology, the government announced that it would provide resources for schools to teach the dawn raids, $2.1 million towards academic and vocational scholarships for Pacific communities and $1 million towards Manaaki New Zealand short term scholarship training courses for delegates from Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Fiji.^[28] The apology was covered by several media including The Guardian, Al Jazeera, the Sydney Morning Herald, and BBC News.^{[12][13][29][30]}

Tongan Princess Mele Siu'ilikutapu Kalaniuvalu Fotofili welcomed the apology as a step in the right direction while the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the Ministry for Pacific Peoples promised to provide support for Pacific artists and historians to work with their communities to develop a comprehensive history of the dawn raids period.^[31] University of Auckland senior research fellow Melanie Anae described the apology as insufficient gestures and said that the Government had to go further before they could expect "real change."^[32] Members of the Christchurch-based Pacific Youth Leadership and Transformation (PYLAT) welcomed the Government's apology as a start but said that more work was needed to be done.^[33]

The apology was lambasted as "hollow" in a 2023 review after it became apparent that Immigration New Zealand was deporting overstayers 'out of hours' even after the apology was made. The review made five recommendations to change the approach to these 'out of hours' visits. Carmel Sepuloni responded on behalf of the government by blaming Immigration New Zealand for failing to honour the apology.^[34]