Student Protests Spread throughout the Nation
1st August 2022 | Ioane Taom
In the past week, we have seen nation-wide school strikes by young student protestors ranging from middle school students to high school ones. Though the movement is largely grassroots and bottom-up, the demands and operations of the protests have consolidated under the voice of Kareta Tanabaeg, a high school student from Tararwa.
They have united under 5 demands:
Rejection of the bill that opens up PIPA to fishing efforts
To set up procedures and pass bills to support efforts for the “Migration with Dignity” strategy
To remove diplomatic ties with China and reinstate friendly relations with Taiwan
To rehabilitate the infrastructure in the island of Banaba so that refugees from Banaba may repatriate back to their homeland
To fund further education by establishing a Natinoal University of Kiribati
They have further spoken out against the current government under the lead of President Maamau and TKB party whom she stated were “old and corrupt boomers,” specifically pointing out “the dishonest minister of MELAD who was recently appointed as Minister of MFMRD (Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Development). There is a clear conflict of interest for the minister who is supposed to defend the environment while maximizing profits through fisheries.”
The former MFMRD minister has released a statement, saying that he wants to retire and start an ice cream shop after the next election having been removed from his position by President Maamau. Recently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan supported the student protests in a press release, saying that “such brave, active young citizens are the treasure of any well-functioning society seeking to develop. We support their cause and the supporting the next generation of Kiribati citizens who are trying to grasp their future with their own hands.”
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