December 15th, 2025, marks the 80th Anniversary of Indigenous Banabans who were moved from Banaba (in what is now Kiribati) and horrific World War II camps on Kosrae, Nauru and Tarawa, to Rabi Island (formerly Rabe) in the northern part of Fiji. This is an anniversary that will fill many with reflection, gratitude and ongoing concern, especially in the absence of a representative Rabi Council of Leaders.

Since 1945, the majority of Banabans have survived and thrived on Rabi through many hardships and hopes. A small group returned to Banaba in the late 1970s maintaining a presence on their ancestral lands. Throughout the 1970s, the Banabans regularly protested, eventually suing the British crown and the British Phosphate Commissioners of three mining countries – Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

Reading the judgment for their civil case “Tito vs Waddell” is devastating. Throughout its many pages, Justice Megarry notes the injustice perpetrated against the Banabans, but he essentially throws his hands up in despair and admits that the letter of the law has defeated his efforts to deliver real justice. Justice Megarry also comments on the clear authority and land rights of Banaban women, a stark contrast to Resident Commissioner McClure who dehumanised them as “the feminine influence” and dismissed women as “reactionary”.

There were 1,003 remaining Banabans and Gilbertese who first settled on Rabi, a former colonial copra plantation whose iTaukei population was displaced during a conflict involving Tonga in the mid-1800s. Though worn down from the violence under wartime Japanese military occupation of their home island, with courage and resilience, they laid the foundation for the people’s survival.

My Banaban great grandfather, Tenamo, was part of the group who landed on Rabi in 1945. My grandfather, Teaiwa, Tabiteuean grandmother, Kieuea, and father, Tabakitoa, soon followed. Of ten brothers and sisters, today, only my father, the eldest, a former Chairman of the Rabi Council of Leaders, and my aunty Tengeaitake, the youngest, remain along with over a hundred descendants of Teaiwa and Kieuea.

While the responsible governments of Fiji and Kiribati have provided some support over the years, after 80 years of displacement and 80 years of BPC phosphate mining that destroyed their ancestral landscape, the Banabans are very low on finances and both Banaba and Rabi have no central energy supply. Fresh, safe drinking water is a constant struggle.

The 80th Anniversary not only commemorates creative survival but is a celebration of faith, resilience, hard work, kinship and unity. The Banabans continue to trust in higher powers, village leaders, church leaders, and Elders, and many passionate community advocates, teachers and youth, leading the way for Banaban generations to come.