NZ works to double refugee quota as others close their borders
Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway is working on a Cabinet proposal to double the refugee quota.
As countries around the world look to close their borders to refugees and other migrants, New Zealand is working on its plan to lift its refugee intake to 1500 a year.
It's a move that is being watched around the world, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern having taken a strong stance on the issue, and New Zealand having adopted a community sponsorship model for refugees that has been specifically mentioned by the United Nations as it drafts its latest refugee strategy.
Groups such as Amnesty International and the Greens say the numbers involved are tiny, and they want New Zealand to take even more. Against a background of 22.5 million refugees worldwide, the Greens want a gradual increase to 6000 a year.
Meanwhile, the National Party, which raised the quota from 750 to 1000, says "arbitrarily" increasing the number of refugees will put further pressure on stretched resettlement services.
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The housing crisis means some refugees are being forced to remain at the country's only resettlement centre, in Mangere, south Auckland, for weeks on end, because they can't find permanent homes.
Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway is standing firmly behind the 1500 commitment, saying he is currently working on a Cabinet proposal.
Labour campaigned on doubling the refugee quota from 750, and remains committed to implementing that. However, there is no current timeline for when the new quota of 1500 will take effect.
At a time when the world's borders seem to be closing, and xenophobia in places like Europe has been on the rise, New Zealand is opening its arms to welcome more refugees.
Lees-Galloway says he is working on a proposal regarding the implementation of the new quota, but has yet to take the plan to the Cabinet, where it will be debated.
"There is an extraordinary number of people around the world who are displaced and in need of refuge, and New Zealand has always been a country that puts its hand up," he says.
The proposal to lift the quota is expected to get support from coalition partners, with NZ First supporting an increase in the number of refugees ahead of the election, provided people were settled in areas with adequate jobs and housing.
In 2015, New Zealand committed to resettling 500 Syrians over two years on top of the annual quota of 750. Those two one-off intakes have now been completed. And in 2016, following public calls during the Syrian refugee crisis, the National government lifted the quota to 1000 – the first increase in 30 years. This new quota will come into effect on July 1.
At the height of the Syrian crisis, people across the country campaigned for the Government to double the annual refugee quota from 750 to 1500.
The Labour-Green confidence and supply agreement also includes the promise to "review, and adequately fund and support, the family reunification scheme for refugees". Currently, only immediate family members of refugees are accepted under the reunification programme, and this has to be funded by refugee families.
Meanwhile, Budget 2018 included money to expand the stretched Mangere Resettlement Centre, as well as resources to deal with cost pressures relating to an increase in asylum and protection claims, and housing support for quota refugees.
This came in the form of $6.2 million of new operating funding over the next four years, plus $7.7m of new capital, to build and operate two new accommodation blocks at the centre in South Auckland.
Lees-Galloway says there are still some people staying longer than they should in the resettlement centre, due to housing pressures. But he expects pressures to be alleviated, with Christchurch coming back online as a resettlement city, for the first time in eight years, and the addition of Invercargill.
IS IT ENOUGH?
Amnesty International New Zealand campaigns director Meg De Ronde says raising the quota is a good start, but there is much more to do.
"This is the first step on the road to doing our fair share, which currently we're not doing globally."
New Zealand is currently taking a "drop in the ocean" of the world's 22.5m refugees, 1.2m of whom need urgent resettlement.
Long-term, Amnesty International is calling for regular commitments to increase the quota to keep up with population and GDP growth.
"We do need to remember that it's only luck that means that we ourselves aren't needing this kind of protection. The people that are fleeing, it could be you and I."
Amnesty International New Zealand campaigns director Meg De Ronde says the world is watching how NZ implements its new refugee strategy.
Ardern, as well as campaigning on doubling the refugee quota, has also spoken out strongly against Australia's detention of refugees and asylum-seekers on Manus Island, in Papua New Guinea, and on Nauru.
She has reaffirmed New Zealand's position on a number of occasions, and offered to take up to 150 of the refugees. When met with backlash from Australian politicians and media, she said it was more important to do what was right than what was popular.
De Ronde says she is relieved to hear Ardern speak out so strongly on the world stage.
"I do think words really matter ... Actions do matter too, and we'll wait to see what happens with the quota increase. We're looking to them to make good on that promise."
COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY
The Government has launched a community sponsorship pilot programme to help resettle refugees, which has cross-party support.
Four community-based organisations in Wellington, Timaru, Christchurch, and Nelson have been chosen to support the resettlement of 25 refugees arriving from the start of this month.
Lees-Galloway says the grassroots approach will have positive social, economic and cultural benefits, for both for the community and the resettled refugees.
The groups will provide services such as the provision of furnished housing; helping refugees navigate their community and the services they need (such as enrolling in GPs and schooling); English language classes; and support towards paid employment and self-sufficiency.
New Zealand's pilot, modelled on a programme used in Canada for 30 years, has been specifically named in the draft of a current global refugee strategy being created by the United Nations.
National Party immigration spokesman Michael Woodhouse says taking 1000 refugees a year is enough. Any more, and there's the risk of dropping the quality of resettlement outcomes.
De Ronde wants to see the programme become part of the landscape. "Globally we are being watched to see how our pilot goes ... Internationally this is quite a pertinent issue at the moment."
It is a chance for New Zealand to be proud of things such as its community sponsorship programme, and its strong stance on humanitarian issues.
The pilot will be reviewed by December, when a decision will be made about whether to roll it out further.
National immigration spokesman Michael Woodhouse says there is a "generosity of spirit" in Kiwi communities, which the Government should utilise.
During the Syrian crisis, there were some "quite naive but quintessentially Kiwi" offers of help, he says.
Both he and De Ronde say New Zealand should rely on the community taking more responsibility for refugee resettlement.
Golriz Ghahraman, Greens MP, in school uniform in Iran, aged 9. Ghahraman and her family fled to NZ as refugees, to escape persecution.
DO WE HAVE CAPACITY?
While it seems increasing the quota is the right thing to do as a good international citizen, there are other considerations, including housing, resettlement services and Government funding.
It costs the Government about $100,000 per refugee each year for the first three years.
Meanwhile, there is a lack of affordable housing in some resettlement towns, including Auckland, with almost 8000 Kiwis waiting for social housing.
Lees-Galloway says after the expansion of the Mangere Resettlement Centre there will be the capacity to service 1500 refugees a year.
But there is still work to be done before the quota can be raised.
De Ronde says it does not have to come down to a choice of one or the other. "Even if there are pressures on our own resources internally, it is possible to provide for people in New Zealand and do our fair share for people in need, globally."
Currently, some of the world poorest countries are currently bearing the brunt of the refugee situation. Millions fleeing Syria and Iraq have sought safety in countries such as Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. And more than 1.4m have taken their chances aboard unseaworthy boats and dinghies in a desperate attempt to reach Greece, Italy and Spain since 2015.
Meanwhile, almost 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Myanmar since last August. These refugees living in tents are now facing life-threatening situations in Bangladesh as the monsoon season begins.
However, Woodhouse says New Zealand should not have to apologise for its settled, open democracy, or for its geographical position in the world.
It has the good fortune to be well away from "trouble spots" and able to control refugee migration. It is not fair to compare its refugee intake to countries such as Lebanon, which are next door to unsettled neighbours.
During his time as immigration minister, Woodhouse says he considered a range of options, and decided a quota increase to 1000 was appropriate. "There will always be an overwhelming need that New Zealand is not able to meet as a small country."
New Zealand needs instead to focus on high-quality settlement outcomes for the people it takes, rather than "arbitrarily" increasing its quota, at the expense of good outcomes.
He also points to potential further pressure on social housing.
Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman, a former refugee from Iran, says that, when Kiwis feel disillusioned by a lack of quality public services and housing, refugee and migrant communities become easy scapegoats, which sometimes leads to xenophobia.
That has already started to creep into New Zealand, she believes. But historical underfunding of public systems does not provide an excuse for us not to do our part to relieve the humanitarian crisis.
If Kiwis agree torture is wrong, then it is only right to be part of the solution, she says, adding that it is not acceptable to use our geographical advantage to ignore what is happening overseas.
GLOBAL STRATEGY
The United Nations is in the process of creating a global refugee compact in response to the humanitarian refugee crisis.
The UN says there is a need for "more equitable sharing of the burden and responsibility for hosting and supporting the world's refugees".
The compact aims to get buy-in from all UN member states to do their fair share in responding to the refugee crisis.
De Ronde says the world will be watching how New Zealand evolves its refugee strategy, and implements programmes like the community sponsorship model.
"Refugees and those affected by refugee situations must not be left behind," the draft UN Global Compact on Refugees says.
The strategy will go to its final consultation phase next month.
OUR CONTRIBUTION IN NUMBERS
New Zealand refugee quota: 1000 on July 1, with a promise to raise it to 1500
Intake in 2016-2017: 1017
NZ intakes per year: 6 intakes of 170
Australia refugee quota: 20,000
Intake in 2017: 21,968
NZ 10-year total: 7515 refugees
Refugees settled since WWI: 33,000
Beds available: 196 beds at Mangere Resettlement Centre
Regions where refugees settle: Auckland, Waikato, Manawatu, Wellington, Nelson, and Otago. Christchurch to be added in June.
Funding at Budget 2018: $17.7m over four years
THE GLOBAL SCALE
Displaced people worldwide: 65.6m
Increase on year prior: 300,000
Refugees: 22.5m
Internally displaced people: 40.3m
Asylum seekers: 2.8m
One person is displaced every three seconds.
Ghahraman says the Green Party policy is to gradually lift the quota to 6000 refugees a year.
Ghahraman says when her family arrived in NZ, Kiwis were welcoming, but some xenophobia had crept in, largely as a backlash caused by lack of funding for NZ public services.
- Stuff
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