• Text size  | | |
• Email this document
• Printable version

Fiji: Background on Sylvester Joseph; also, information on the "Back to Early May Movement" and "Operation Sunrise," including whether or not either is still active today

No information on Sylvester Joseph could be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.

According to David Robie, Operation Sunrise was a "campaign of village education" carried out by the opponents of the government installed in Fiji as a result of the military coup of 14 May 1987 (1989, 248). Operation Sunrise was described in The Christian Science Monitor of 15 April 1988 as the "grass-roots campaign for a democratic return to power" carried out under the leadership of Dr. Timoci Bavadra, the leader of the Fiji Labour Party who was ousted as prime minister in the May 1987 coup. Bavadra died in November 1989 (The Washington Times 9 Nov. 1989).

The Back to Early May Movement was described in a Reuters dispatch as a political movement to restore the government of Prime Minister Bavadra to power (5 Aug. 1987). Among its founders was Suliana Siwatibau, Fiji's director of energy and the wife of Fiji's Reserve Bank governor, Savenaca Siwatibau (ibid.). The Back to Early May movement was associated with a petition requesting a return to parliamentary government signed by over 100,000 people and submitted to the governor-general of Fiji in August 1987 (Reuters 13 Aug. 1987). According to Amnesty International Report 1988, supporters of the Back to Early May Movement were arrested in 1987 and detained for periods of up to four days (1988, 157).

No information could be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB as to whether or not the Back to Early May Movement or Operation Sunrise are still active today.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please see below a list of additional sources consulted in preparing this Response.

References

Amnesty International Report 1988. 1988. New York. Amnesty International USA.

The Christian Science Monitor. Boston. 15 April, 1988. David Clark Scott. "Former Fiji Leader Passes Hat for Comeback Try." (NEXIS)

DIRB Amnesty International country file: Fiji.

DIRB country file: Fiji.

Reuters. 5 August 1987. BC Cycle. Peter Bale. "Tribal Roots Movement Emerges as Key Force in Fiji." (NEXIS)

_____. 13 August 1987. "Fijian Moderates Call for All-Party Government."

Robie, David. 1989. Blood on Their Banner: Nationalist Struggles in the South Pacific. London: Zed Books.

The Washington Times. 9 November. 1989. PM Cycle. "Ousted Fiji Premier Is Buried with Honors." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

Amnesty International Report. 1988-1996.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1996. 1997. United States Department of State.

Encyclopaedia of the Third World.

The Europa World Year Book.

     Keesing's Record of World Events. 1988-1997.

Political Handbook of the World 1994-1995.

Political Parties of Asia and the Pacific.

Political Parties of the World.

World Encyclopaedia of Political Systems and Parties.

Computerized databases: FBIS, Global NewsBank, Indexed Media Review, NEXIS, World News Connection.

The two oral sources contacted did not provide information.