June 9, 2000

Ethnic Conflict in Fiji Puts University at Risk

By DAVID COHEN

Ethnic tensions are on the rise at the University of the South Pacific, in the Fijian capital Suva, mirroring those that led to an attempted coup in Fiji.

This month, scores of indigenous students, angered at the promotion of a Fijian of Indian descent to be the institution's chief executive, staged sit-ins.

A leading academic at the university said last month that the institution faced a mass exodus of faculty members because of ethnic turmoil in the