Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
License needed for work use Register
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Support for refugee resettlement

Funding initiatives to support refugee resettlement in New Zealand are included in Budget 2002.

Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel said this confirms the government’s commitment to achieving positive resettlement outcomes for refugees in New Zealand.

The package includes, all amounts over four years:
- $110,000 a year for the Refugee and Migrant Service’s NZ Qualifications Authority-approved training programme for volunteers working with refugees.
- $332,000 a year in continued funding of resettlement support programmes which have been running successfully as pilots.
- $500,000 a year for off-shore health screening of UN-mandated refugees.
- $601,000 a year into community-based accommodation for border refugee status claimants.

“Today’s announcement acknowledges the great work of the Refugee and Migrant Service which is an essential part of assisting UNHCR-mandated refugees to start new lives in New Zealand. I am delighted that government can support their initiative to develop a standards-approved training course for the volunteers who act as sponsors, and often, the first friends, of refugees when they leave the Mangere Resettlement Centre.

“The refugee resettlement programmes are an important part of helping new arrivals who come outside the UNHCR quota adjust to New Zealand life and we are rewarding the success of the pilots with continued funding,” Ms Dalziel said.

“In the past, UNHCR-mandated refugees have undergone health checks after arriving which, in the case of active TB, can mean a theoretical risk of exposure during travel to New Zealand. By, implementing off-shore medical screening we will limit this exposure and treatment can commence before they arrive.

“We are also putting $601,000 into community-based accommodation for border refugee status claimants. This will provide for a community-based alternative to detention,” Ms Dalziel said.


Ends

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

Gordon Campbell: On How Climate Change Threatens Cricket‘s Future

Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else and complaining that he's inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” - which is how most of us would describe his own coalition agreements, 100-Day Plan, and backdated $3 billion handout to landlords... More


 
 
Public Housing Futures: Christmas Comes Early For Landlords

New CTU analysis of the National & ACT coalition agreement has shown the cost of returning interest deductibility to landlords is an extra $900M on top of National’s original proposal. This is because it is going to be implemented earlier and faster, including retrospective rebates from April 2023. More


Green Party: Petition To Save Oil & Gas Ban

“The new Government’s plan to expand oil and gas exploration is as dangerous as it is unscientific. Whatever you think about the new government, there is simply no mandate to trash the climate. We need to come together to stop them,” says James Shaw. More

PSA: MFAT Must Reverse Decision To Remove Te Reo

MFAT's decision to remove te reo from correspondence before new Ministers are sworn in risks undermining the important progress the public sector has made in honouring te Tiriti. "We are very disappointed in what is a backward decision - it simply seems to be a Ministry bowing to the racist rhetoric we heard on the election campaign trail," says Marcia Puru. More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.