Pacific paradise lost as job-seeking islanders stage mass migration.

(From PacNews)

20 JULY 2005 LONDON (Pacnews) - The future of three of the Pacific's smallest countries is under threat as their inhabitants seek new lives elsewhere.

A report in today's Daily Telegraph said the tiny nations of Niue and Tokelau are losing people at such a rate that their viability has been cast in serious doubt. The neighbouring Cook Islands, although larger, have also been drastically depleted by migration.

All three are former British colonies but have close historical links with New Zealand and their inhabitants are automatically granted New Zealand passports.

Although their homelands are regarded by many as enviable …