Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi has described a report into human rights in the country as foolish.
He told the Samoa Observer the report's observations on poverty come from "palagi" thinking and the report's writers have based their ideas on African countries.
The first State of Human Rights Report for Samoa was compiled by the Office of the Ombudsman in Samoa and says one in five people in Samoa lives below the poverty line.
Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi. Photo: RNZ / Jane Patterson
Tuilaepa says there is no one walking around without clothes in Samoa, nor has anyone died because of a lack of food.
He says not being able to afford school fees is also a sign of poverty but he says with free education in Samoa people are lying if they say they have no money to send their children to school.
