The first was in 1987. They were made the scapegoat for the 1987 coup and again this year. So these are the thoughts that go through my mind when I see them. The whole of this settlement here, some 300 families, will have to move out before December 31. And this, of course, is right through from right throughout the cane belt.
Today is the first time that a mass eviction has ever occurred.
Another 15 up there. Even if Chaudhry was still in government, these leases would have expired, but the Landlord and Tenants Act, now effectively abandoned, would have softened the blow. Tenants had more rights to renegotiate a lease, there was more protection offered for the family home and a financial package for compensation and resettlement was in place. Politically, it would be unpopular to be seen to be helping Indians. But it would seem that Fiji is not big enough for the Fijian Indians.