“The Green Party has been advocating consistently for pathways for family reunification and visa waiver status and we welcome today’s announcement on the 2022 Special Ukraine Policy,” says Ricardo Menéndez March, Green Party spokesperson for immigration.

“However, we would like to see the policy extended to include people on temporary visas.

“We are also calling on the Government to fully remove the Acceptable Standards of Health so migrants and refugees wanting to come to New Zealand are not discriminated against because of their disability or health status

“While we welcome today’s announcement as a necessary step, we acknowledge that this level of response hasn't been seen in other communities facing war, including people in Syria and Yemen.

“We need an equitable response to war that doesn't leave people from the global south response behind.

“We also still need to see the refugee quota being fully utilised and a review of the visa waiver status of the non-visa waiver status of Ukraine and other countries affected by war,” says Ricardo Menéndez March.

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