Anna Dziedzic These experiences led Kiribati in particular to develop innovative approaches in its citizenship laws so that relocated peoples could retain their connection to their islands (discussed in Part 4.1). The states of Oceania are small states. The largest state, by population, is Papua New Guinea with a population of 8.5 million people, followed by Fiji with the far smaller population of 888,400. The smallest state, by population, is Tuvalu, with just 10,200 people.11 All of the twelve states are classified as small island developing states, and four – Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu – are among the least developed states in the world.12 Smallness, remoteness and limited resources constrain economic opportunities in small island states, especially when competing in a global market.13 In this context, the sale of citizenship has provided a source of revenue, although not always a reliable, legal or transparent one (discussed in Part 4.2). 2.4 International interdependence All citizenship regimes are subject to influence by external states. The legacies of colonisation and the dependence of small island states on larger ones mean that the citizenship laws of states outside the region can have wide-ranging effects within Oceania. For example, in 1982, Falema’i Lesa, a Samoan woman living in New Zealand, was facing deportation. She challenged the deportation on the grounds that she was a citizen of New Zealand because her father was born in Samoa 1926 while it was under the mandate of New Zealand. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council agreed and held that Lesa, and thousands like her, were citizens of New Zealand.14 To reverse the effect of the decision, New Zealand enacted the Citizenship (Western Samoa) Act 1982 and negotiated a protocol to the Treaty of Friendship with Samoa to provide that all persons who could have been New Zealand citizens as a result of the Privy Council’s decision were deemed not to be citizens, carving out some specific exceptions.15 The Supreme Court of Samoa noted that the legislation “clearly discriminates on the ground of race against persons who were declared by the highest New Zealand Court to be citizens of New Zealand” but dismissed a challenge to the constitutionality of the new arrangements.16 In addition to the twelve independent states, the region of Oceania includes selfgoverning territories and dependencies: American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (territories of the United States); French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Wallis and Futuna (territories of France); Pitcairn Islands (territory of the United Kingdom); Cook Islands and Niue (self-governing polities in free association with New Zealand) and Tokelau (territory of New Zealand). 17 The citizenship status of the peoples of the territories is determined by the laws of the parent state. Some people of territories are automatically citizens of the parent state, although the geographic isolation and remoteness of some communities can make exercising the rights attached to such citizenship difficult in 11 Pacific Community, ‘PRISM 2018 Pocket Summary’ (2018) https://prism.spc.int/. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Statistics Division, ‘SDG Indicators: Regional groupings used in 2017 Report and Statistical Annex’ https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/indicators/regional-groups/. 13 Francis X Hezel, ‘Pacific Island Nations: How Viable Are Their Economies?’ (Pacific Islands Policy No 7, East-West Center 2012) 3. 14 Lesa v Attorney-General [1982] 1 NZLR 165. 15 William Tagupa, ‘Law, Status and Citizenship: Conflict and Continuity in New Zealand and Western Samoa (1922-1982)’ (1994) 29 The Journal of Pacific History 19. 16 In re Father Ioane Vito [1988] WSSC 3. 17 Some issues affecting these external territories are discussed in other GLOBALCIT Reports: Peter Spiro, ‘Report on Citizenship Law: United States of America’ [2015] GLOBALCIT Country Report 2015/13 3; McMillan and Hood (n 1) 11–12. 12 4 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-Comp 2020/1- © 2020 Author