[Photo: FILE]
More than 60,000 Girmitiya records will be digitised to make it easier for descendants and researchers to access Fiji’s indenture history online.
Assistant Minister for Multi-Ethnic Affairs Shalen Kumar says the project will convert immigrant passes and other plantation records held at the National Archives into a digital database.
“Girmitiyas who came to Fiji in those days, their immigrant pass, which is currently in the National Archives, if anyone wants to know about it, they have to go to the National Archives, and the book in which it is kept, you have to see the photocopy and you can use it.”
Kumar says people currently have to visit the National Archives and search through large record books to trace their ancestors.
He says once the digitisation is completed, users will be able to search the records online using details such as an ancestor’s name, the ship they arrived on, or the year they came to Fiji.
Kumar also points out that Girmitiya immigrant passes are currently only available through manual searches at the Archives.
He says the project is part of the government’s wider efforts to preserve Girmit history, alongside the development of the Girmit Museum.
Kumar adds that digitising the records will protect Fiji’s Girmit heritage and give future generations easier access to the history of their ancestors.
