“Unauthorized” Fiji Passports Were Used to Take Cult Children Out of the Country

The children of a Korean-American woman, who had escaped Fiji’s Grace Road doomsday cult and publicly accused it of abuse, were issued “unauthorized” passports and taken out of the country last week without her consent, according to local media and an immigration official.

The woman, who has not been named for her own safety, went public via OCCRP partner the Fiji Times last week with allegations that the South Korean sect’s members in Fiji were subject to violence, slave-like work conditions, and family separation.

Following this reporting, Fiji Home Affairs and Immigration Minister Pio Tikoduadua announced that he was ordering an investigation into the “unauthorized” issuance of passports to the children of cult members. He did not go into further detail.

However, the Fiji Times reported on Saturday that at least two of those passports were given to the children of the escapee. The children’s father, who remains with the cult, used the passports to fly the children out of the country, the newspaper reported, citing the escapee. 

OCCRP was able to confirm the mother’s account with a senior source at Fiji immigration, who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Grace Road Church said in a statement last week that the father had acquired the passports legally. 

"The father, a member of Grace Road Group, had done nothing more than apply for a passport for his younger child, who is a Fiji citizen and born in Fiji, and obtain a grant of the same," the church said.

Led by imprisoned South Korean pastor Shin Ok-joo, the 400-strong Grace Road Church believes the world is headed towards a nuclear cataclysm and that Fiji is a promised land from which they will feed humanity.

The sect has been active in Fiji for over a decade and has built a business empire that includes a farm, restaurants, supermarkets, petrol stations, and beauty salons. A 2022 OCCRP investigation revealed that the cult received millions of dollars in support from a state bank despite longstanding allegations that group members were beaten, humiliated, and forced to work long hours for no pay in church-owned enterprises.

On Friday, Fiji’s Minister for Employment Productivity and Workplace Relations, Agni Deo Singh, announced that he had seen an inspection report revealing that Grace Road was in breach of local employment and health and safety laws. The minister did not specify which violations had occurred or whether these involved the alleged abuse of workers.