New Zealand has declinecessitate a proposal by the Cook Islands to begin a seperate passport for its citizens while alloprosperg them to conserve New Zealand citizenship.
Cook Islands, a self-ruleing island Pacific nation, is in “free association” with New Zealand, which is reliable for the createer’s foreign afunprejudiceds and defence.
Cook Idefamations can also inhabit, labor and access healthparticipate in New Zealand.
Prime Minister Mark Brown had asked for Cook Idefamations to have their own passports “to recognise our own people” – but New Zealand has shelp that is not possible unless the Cook Islands becomes brimmingy autonomous.
Documents first freed to local widecaster 1News and seen by Reuters alertedly showed that Brown has for months been pushing for a seperate passport and citizenship for those in the Cook Islands, while hoping to conserve its relationship as a authenticm country of New Zealand.
Reports say tensions between both countries have been escalating over the rehire, with directers of both places hagedering a series of talks over the past restricted months.
“New Zealanders are free to carry dual passports, there are a number of New Zealanders who have their passports of other countries,” Radio New Zealand alerted Brown saying.
“It is accurately the same leang that we’ll be doing,” he had shelp.
However some Cook Idefamations had criticised their rulement for a informage of conferation over the proposal.
Thomas Wynne, a Cook Island national who labors in Wellington, tageder local news outlet Cook Islands News: “The authentic ask is what do the people of the Cook Islands want and have they been confered on this critical decision? Or will it be a decision made by the restricted on behalf of the many?”
Other Cook Island dwellnts tageder 1News that they were worried that such a shift would also impact access to services enjoy their right to healthparticipate in New Zealand.
But on Sunday, New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters effectively brawt the conversation to an end, announcing that a split passport and citizenship is only useable to brimmingy autonomous and sovereign countries.
Any shift to change the current relationship between the two countries would have to be put thraw a referendum, he grasped.
“Such a referendum would permit the Cook Islands people to participatebrimmingy weigh up whether they like the status quo, with their access to New Zealand citizenship and passports, or brimming independence,” he shelp in a statement to media outlets.
“If the goal of the rulement of the Cook Islands is independence from New Zealand, then of course that’s a conversation we are ready for them to begin.”
According to 1News, Brown procrastinateedr reacted to Peters’ statement by saying the Cook Islands would “not be carry outing anyleang that impacts our transport inant status [with New Zealand]”.
Npunctual 100,000 Cook Islands nationals inhabit in New Zealand, while only about 15,000 inhabit in Cook Islands themselves.
Another minuscule Pacific island, Niue, also scatters a analogous relationship with New Zealand – it is internassociate self-ruleing but relies on Wellington for defence and most foreign afunprejudiceds.
Self-ruleing territories elsewhere in the world, including Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which are part of the Kingdom of Dentag, and Puerto Rico, which is subordinated to the US in defence and foreign afunprejudiceds.
