Pitcairn

The islands of Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno (commonly known as Pitcairn) make up a single territory, the last remaining United Kingdom Overseas Territory (ukot) in the Pacific Ocean. Pitcairn, the only inhabited island of the group, had a total resident population of thirty-nine—a historically low figure—at the start of 2016. The entire population lives in the lone settlement, Adams-town. The only way of accessing the island is by sea, but because of the difficult terrain, ships must moor offshore, with longboats operating between the ships and Bounty Bay. Due to its isolation, its small and aging population, and the high level of subsidy that is given by the UK government, there are concerns over the future viability of the settlement. Therefore, during the period under review there was significant focus on strengthening its repopulation strategy, improving the island’s infrastructure, encouraging more tourist arrivals, and working closely with the European Union (EU) on several projects. However, much of the good work was undermined by reignited concerns over child safety and the decision of the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union. All of these issues, which are closely interlinked, are considered in this review.

A fundamental challenge for Pitcairn is its very small and declining population, which is also aging. Fewer than thirty people are economically active, and a majority of these are over fifty years old. Most starkly for the future, the number of residents in the twenty-to-thirty age group is in the low single figures. Once young people move abroad—usually to New Zealand—to advance their education, they rarely return. In addition, with only a handful of women being of childbearing age, the birthrate is not high enough to sustain population levels (UK Department for International Development 2015). So apart from a rising number of births, there are two other options for increasing the population: the return of former residents and their families, and new immigrants coming to the island. In order to help facilitate these, the Pitcairn Island Council (pic) in 2013 agreed to a repopulation plan to stabilize the population at around fifty.

In the face of the extremely limited initial interest on the part of diasporic Islanders and new immigrants in settling in Pitcairn, the pic undertook a review, which was completed in November 2015. A key part of this was a redesigned and more user-friendly website, including a new promotional film, which was intended to allow those interested in migrating to Pitcairn to begin the application process more easily and in a more informed way (Pitcairn Miscellany 2015a; pic 2015c). In addition, new procedures were approved for immigrants applying for council land. After the changes were made, a small number of applications were received, although none had resulted in any new arrivals by the end of the period under review.

The reasons for the lack of success can be seen in a survey of the Pitcairn diaspora (Solomon and Burnett 2014). It found that the vast majority of those living elsewhere are reluctant to return because of concerns over child safety and a belief that “on-island social norms do not conform to acceptable international norms” (Solomon and Burnett 2014, 41). These concerns apply to other potential immigrants too. They relate back to the late 1990s when serious allegations of systematic sexual abuse of children were made against a large proportion of the adult male population. Ultimately eight men were convicted, including a recently serving mayor. Significant efforts have been made, including during the period under review, to strengthen child safeguarding. For example, the “Child Matters” training, a child-protection studies program provided by a New Zealand company, was rolled out (pic 2015a).

However, much of the good work around child safety was undermined when in March 2016 former Mayor Michael Warren was found guilty of downloading scores of hardcore child-abuse images and films (Marks 2016). In response, a further initiative was taken in May 2016 when the pic agreed to work with the Internet Watch Foundation in a scheme funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (fco). The foundation will provide a reporting portal...