Litia Cava 
Immigration Minister Viliame Naupoto [Source: Parliament of Fiji]
Fiji is currently home to 26 recognised refugees, many from countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan and parts of Africa.
This, according to Immigration Minister Viliame Naupoto.
Since 2018, 65 people have applied for asylum in Fiji.
Of those, 38 were granted refugee status.
Ten resettled in New Zealand, two returned to their home countries and 26 remained in Fiji.
Eighteen of them are now working at the Grand Pacific Hotel, Extra Supermarket, the Salvation Army, and in small local businesses.
Others are students in Suva or still job hunting while being supported by relatives overseas.
Naupoto said these cases show Fiji’s commitment to protect the vulnerable.
When people arrive at the border with nothing, he said, the country does not look away.
In June this year, Fiji signed its first Refugee Status Determination Standard Operating Procedure with the UN refugee agency.
This agreement sets out clear steps for how the government handles asylum claims and ensures refugees are treated fairly and with dignity.
Fiji first signed the UN Refugee Convention in 1972.
Naupoto said the new procedures 53 years later are a key step in making that commitment real.
Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.
