Editor,

I would just like to raise my concern about how a citizen of the Republic of Fiji jumps bail from Fiji and is allowed into Tonga without any proper travel documents. And Tonga welcomes him like a hero and gives him a Tongan passport, so that he can travel the world as freely as he likes (as if he has done nothing wrong), while back in Tonga we have people that have been there for years and still find it very hard to get a Tongan passport even when the follow the proper procedures!

We have children who were born to Tongan mothers, yet they still can't get Tongan Passport in the land of their birth! I would like for someone to tell me, whether giving a fugitive from Fiji a Tongan Passport will benefit the country in the future, or we better give it to these stateless children who are born in Tonga to Tongan Mothers, and are the future of Tonga.

We must always try to clean our own backyard before we start telling other people (or countries for that matter) to clean theirs.

Sitani Masima

lion [dot] of [dot] judah [dot] 676 [at] gmail [dot] com

Editor's note - The Tongan Nationality Act was amended in 2007, making it possible for any person born of a Tongan mother to become a Tongan subject, and therefore can apply for a Tongan passport.