Key to send troops to Iraq but won’t budge on refugee ban   6 Feb 2015

Doing Our Bit

FROM: DOING OUR BIT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5 FEBRUARY

Key to send troops to Iraq but won’t budge on refugee ban

The Prime Minister’s Waitangi-eve speech invoked the human rights of the people of Iraq. “We are a country that stands up for human rights,” Key said in defending his decision to send troops to Iraq. However, despite his publicly stated concern for the Iraqi people, he continues to ignore Iraqi New Zealanders calls for an emergency refugee quota for fleeing Christians and other minorities.

In October 2014, Father Aprem Pithyou, an Assyrian Iraqi priest based in Wellington, requested more places for Assyrian refugees. The request was not met and there is no sign that the deployment of troops will be met with any increase in humanitarian aid.

In contrast, Canada has recently earmarked 13,000 quota places for Syrian and Iraqi refugees. New Zealand is in the process of introducing the last of 100 Syrians. Since 2009, Iraqis – as with the whole Middle East and Africa regions -- are only welcome in this country through family reunification channels.

In contrast to a decade ago, when a third of our refugee quota came from both the Middle East and African regions, in 2013 New Zealand took just 16% from the Middle East and 3% from Africa. Documents obtained from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade show that this move away from Africa and the Middle East was for three reasons: (a) cost, (b) a desire to focus on the Pacific and (c) “broad security concerns”.

“If Key was genuine when he cited human rights, he wouldn’t have ignored Father Aprem”, said Murdoch Stephens of the Doing Our Bit campaign to double New Zealand’s refugee quota and funding. “While family reunification is incredibly important for refugee wellbeing, this policy has vastly reduced the number of refugees being offered protection from some of the world’s worst hotspots.”

“The simple fact is that our quota has been stagnant since its inception in the 1980s,” said Stephens. “In that time our population has grown by more than a million. Australia, who aren’t exactly leading the world on asylum rights at the moment, still manage to take more than three times as many refugees per capita as us. We rank 87th in the world in refugees hosted per capita, which is appalling and needs to change. ”

At the 2014 election Labour, the Greens and United Future favoured increasing the quota from 750 to 1000. National deferred any decision on the quota until the next review on 1 July 2016.

The National government’s current refugee policy ignores the advice of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). A paper from MBIE, on 29 May 2013, to the Cabinet External Relations and Defence Committee recommends that Ministers McCully and Woodhouse: “...agree that for the Africa and Middle Eastern regions, priority be given to resettling family-linked refugees, but if sufficient refugees that meet that criterion have not been identified, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Immigration may approve the remaining places being filled with non-family linked UNHCR-referred refugees from the Africa and Middle East regions;”

In January the United Nations High Commission for Refugees renewed calls for Western nations to do more to resettle the most vulnerable ten percent of the 3.8 million refugees from the regional conflict.

END

Add a comment

News

Hilary Timmins' Award-Winning UK Documentary Series To Inspire NZ Students

29 Jun 2020 Education
Dream Catchers, produced and directed by Hilary Timmins, celebrates the success stories of more than thirty inspirational New... more

New Zealand reaffirms support for Flight MH17 judicial process

7 Mar 2020 News By Rt HON WINSTON PETERS
Ahead of the start of the criminal trial in the Netherlands on 9 March, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has reaffirmed the need to... more

Business

NZ Government's Economic package to fight COVID-19

17 Mar 2020 Business News By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
The Coalition Government has launched the most significant peace-time economic plan in modern New Zealand history to cushion the... more

NZ Government announces aviation relief package

19 Mar 2020 Business News By Hon Phil Twyford
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today outlined the first tranche of the $600 million aviation sector relief package announced earlier... more

Living

Diversity was Key at New Zealand Trade Tasting in London

6 Jun 2022 Food & Wine
New Zealand Winegrowers Annual Trade Tasting was recently held in London, on Wednesday 4 May, in Lindley Hall. It was the first... more

Kiwi author stuns Behind the Butterfly Gate

12 Jan 2022 Arts By Charlotte Everett
Hidden behind the Butterfly Gate is where the secret has been kept for 76 years...  New Zealand writer Merryn Corcoran’s... more

Property

Fairer rules for tenants and landlords

17 Nov 2019 Property By Minister Kris Faafoi
17 NOVEMBER 2019 The Government has delivered on its promise to the over one million New Zealanders who now rent to make it fairer... more

New Zealand Government will not implement a Capital Gains Tax

17 Apr 2019 Property By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
The Coalition Government will not proceed with the Tax Working Group’s recommendation for a capital gains tax, Jacinda Ardern... more

Migration

Boosting border security with electronic travel authority – now over 500,000 issued

19 Nov 2019 Migration By Hon Iain Lees-Galloway
19 NOVEMBER 2019 We’ve improved border security with the NZeTA, New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority, which helps us to... more

Christchurch reinstated as refugee settlement location

18 Aug 2018 Migration
18 AUGUST 2018 HON IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY The announcement that Christchurch can once again be a settlement location for refugees... more

Travel

Gallipoli Anzac Day services cancelled

19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
The New Zealand and Australian Governments have announced this year’s joint Anzac Day services at Gallipoli will be cancelled... more

New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas

19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas more

Sport

The Skipper's Diary: Sir Richard Hadlee honouring his father and NZ's Forty-Niners

27 Oct 2019 Cricket By Charlotte Everett
NZNewsUK London Editor Charlotte Everett spoke to Sir Richard Hadlee about why he’s chosen to publish his father’s... more

PREVIEW: All Blacks v England semi-final

26 Oct 2019 Rugby
The two most convincing quarterfinals winners are set to square off in a semifinal showdown for the ages when the All Blacks meet old... more

Columns

Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade

11 Nov 2016 Opinion
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade First published on Werewolf The ghastly likes of Marine Le Pen in France and Geert ... more

Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome

10 Nov 2016 Opinion
Column - Gordon Campbell   Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome Well um.. on the bright side, there (probably)... more

Kiwi Success

Congratulations to Loder Cup winner

26 Sep 2018 People By Hon Eugenie Sage
25 SEPTEMBER 2018 The Loder Cup, one of New Zealand’s oldest conservation awards, has been awarded to Robert McGowan for 2018... more

Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO

16 Aug 2018 Appointments
16 AUGUST 2018Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO HON JENNY SALESA Associate Education Minister Jenny Salesa is... more

Recruitment

Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers

14 Aug 2018 Recruitment By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers RT HON JACINDA ARDERN HON CHRIS HIPKINS Prime Minister The... more

Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers

22 Aug 2018 Recruitment By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers RT HON JACINDA ARDERN HON CHRIS HIPKINS Prime Minister The... more