Grace Road Group says the passport issued to its member’s son was legally established as he was born in Fiji.

This comes as an investigation is underway to determine how the passport was issued, while Immigration Minister Pio Tikoduadua has offered to temporarily step aside from office while awaiting the results of the investigation to resolve a serious matter recently brought to its attention concerning a possible unauthorized delivery. of passports to the children of people associated with the Grace Road human rights allegations.

Tikoduadua claims that these passports appear to have been issued without his knowledge, without the approval of the permanent secretary and without the authorization of the senior management of the Ministry of Immigration.

According to him, if confirmed, it would constitute a significant breach of their protocols and raise serious concerns about internal control mechanisms within the ministry.

The Grace Road Group, in a statement, says they are synonymous with progressive policies, as demonstrated by the projects they have undertaken and completed over the past decade, but are being drawn into unnecessary public discourse in as a political target.

They say the fact is that Fiji citizens have been issued Fijian passports, which are now labeled “unauthorized”.

The Group says children born in Fiji are granted citizenship by right and no authorization is required from the Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration or his department.

They say the father, a member of the Grace Road Group, had done nothing other than apply for a passport for his youngest child, a Fijian citizen and born in Fiji, and obtain a grant while the eldest held a a Korean passport.

The Group declares that it disputes the timing of the press release, which it believes is unnecessary and demonstrates incorrect application of the law.

They say this is undoubtedly aimed at diverting attention and obscuring the factual matrix of their president’s current case at the Lautoka High Court.

Questions were sent to Immigration Minister Pio Tikoduadua. He hasn’t responded yet.