Former MP says he will speak out about Nauru issues

NEW ZEALAND – Former Nauru MP Roland Kun has been reunited with his wife and their three children in New Zealand, more than a year after his passport was confiscated by the Baron Waqa government.

In the midst of his country’s general election last weekend, Kun slipped out of the country on a New Zealand passport.

His original travel document was cancelled by Justice Minister David Adeang after Kun, one of five opposition MPs suspended from sitting in parliament, was accused of being involved in an anti-government protest in 2015.

He has always denied being part of the protest, and in the year since, all attempts to get his passport back through the courts failed.

On Sunday, he slipped through customs unnoticed and discreetly boarded an outgoing flight to Brisbane at the last-minute, before continuing on to New Zealand.

“It’s unfortunate that as a Nauruan citizen, as a former member of Parliament of Nauru, I’ve had to exit Nauru under the given circumstances,” he told the ABC’s Pacific Beat from his home in Wellington.

“No person should ever have to exit a country in such a manner, and I’ve had to do that.”

As Kun readied for departure with his new travel documents, he recalled the last time he tried to board an aircraft and was forcibly removed from the plane by Nauru authorities.

“Of course I was extremely worried this time, given my previous experience trying to get on a plane,” he said.

“There was no explanation then and I knew that if the government had learned I was on the plane they would have done everything and anything, regardless of the law, to pull me off.”

After New Zealand’s Minister for Internal Affairs, Peter Dunne, approved his citizenship two weeks ago under a humanitarian provision, and his new passport was received in Nauru, Kun said he chose the right day to make his escape.

Kun said he knew the government and its public services at the airport would have little appetite for close scrutiny the day after the general election.

But Nauru is a very small place of just 10,000 people and he was nearly spotted.

“It was a coincidence that the Minister for Justice Adeang was in the vicinity,” Kun said.

“He was having breakfast and I think seeing some people off. But he left before I had to get on my plane. He was obviously unaware I was on the plane.”

Even after take-off, Kun said he felt uneasy.

“I was clapping my hands, but I was still worried, I wanted to be 30 minutes airborne,” he said. “I didn’t want the opportunity for the government to recall the aircraft, which I wouldn’t dismiss them doing.”

Dunne told Pacific Beat on Tuesday Kun’s application was approved based on the “facts of the case”.

“There was no attempt made to say there was a bigger political game here,” he said.

But ties between the two nations have been strained since New Zealand suspended aid to Nauru’s justice sector last year, citing a diminishing rule of law.

The Nauru government said Kun’s passport was cancelled as he was under police investigation, although no charges have ever been laid.

“At first I was very hopeful when I went through the process of getting my matter resolved in the Nauru court,” Kun said.

“When after six months I was not able to get my time in court, and my matter was thrown out on the basis that I was out of time, I knew then this was not going to happen – in terms of achieving justice through the judiciary.”

As a result, Kun was separated from his family– who have been in New Zealand since June last year – for more than a year.

His wife, Katy Le Roy, knew of the New Zealand passport plan, but they did not tell their children until Kun was on the aircraft from Brisbane to Wellington.

“It was a very beautiful reunion. It is so good to be back with the children, and Katy, and be back together as a family,” Kun said.

“I am most grateful to the government of New Zealand. They have enabled me to now be with my family, and we are most happy to be where we are now.”

He said he doubted the government he once served would let him back into the country, “as long as there’s elements of corruption in the government itself, to the level that it would see nothing wrong with separating families”.

“That to me is unfortunate, especially in a small country in the Pacific. It’s not like we’re in a war zone, or we’re involved with some significant state enemies.”

Kun told Radio New Zealand he is still willing to be a witness in an Australian Federal Police investigation into alleged bribery on Nauru.

Kun said his part in the probe was one reason Adeang stopped him from leaving Nauru.

“He knew that if I was off-island then there would be an opportunity that I might become a key witness to that investigation. It would not be in his favour to have that investigation progress with a cooperating witness who was in previous governments.”

Kun said now he’s settled in New Zealand he will make himself available for the case and continue to speak about matters affecting his country.

“I don’t intend on not having an opinion or keeping my opinions to myself, especially in terms of governance and what government is doing.

“I’m going to be vocal and I’m going to continue to have an opinion on what these guys are doing.”

Kun said his main focus was now on his family, including his three children, who he had not seen for a year.

“It’s still a bit surreal at the moment. I’m still pinching myself that I’m actually here, I’m actually with my family. It feels absolutely great”

Kun said he had been keeping a low profile in Nauru since efforts got under way get him a New Zealand passport, and he didn’t stand for election in the weekend’s polls.

A spokesman for the New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government of Nauru had not contacted it about Kun’s departure.

- PNC sources