17 June 2016

World Refugee Day: New Zealand can do more

Save the Children welcomes the increase in the refugee quota from 750 to 1000 each year, which will start in 2018, however agrees with critics that New Zealand can do more to increase the quota as well as the funding to help settle refugee families. “Yes, we’re saving 250 more lives, but there is so much more we can do for refugee families,” says Save the Children CEO Heather Hayden.

New Zealand’s refugee intake quota has remained the same for three decades and falls well short of the 1500 refugees campaigners and Immigration NZ have said New Zealand can handle.

With World Refugee Day coming up next week Save the Children hopes to raise awareness of the daily struggles of families displaced by war, violence and conflict.

“The refugees we take in every year are safe from these atrocities. However, their struggle is not over. We welcome Government’s commitment under the Refugee Resettlement Strategy to help families resettle, however, they need support beyond crossing the border.”

“We expect refugee families to make a success of life and eventually contribute to the economy. In return we need to provide the appropriate services – such as translating services, health care and education – to help them make the transition from refugees to living normal lives.”

The families are welcomed in communities in Auckland, Waikato, Manawatu, Wellington and Nelson, but, asks Hayden, are we doing enough to help them settle once they’re part of the community?

Save the Children acknowledges the success of the six-week programme at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre in Auckland before refugees move into communities to start their lives as part of a new society. However, they’re calling on Government to ensure more funding for services such as English language classes, health screening, mental health support and education in the communities where they will be settling. “The centre offers a fantastic start, but what happens in the months after that?” asks Hayden.

We can be sure that a refugee’s journey to New Zealand, especially from a child’s perspective, is fraught with danger. The physical and psychological trauma sustained over years of unrelenting fear and hardship does not go away overnight. These families have complex needs and problems, which they cannot be expected to solve by themselves.”

Hayden says she, like other New Zealanders are happy, willing, and able to help refugees restore their lives and become valued members of society. She believes with proper support and care families, and the children, can adjust to their new life. “Refugees who are settled give back many fold once they’re back on their feet,” she says.

Save the Children recently provided school bags, lunchboxes, school uniforms and stationary to Syrian refugee children to make sure they’re ready for school.

“World Refugee Day is celebrated on 20 June and marks a day when we all take a moment to imagine what it’s like for the families who’ve fled war, violence and persecution,” she says.

Over the last two decades New Zealand has opened its borders to thousands of refugees coming from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Syria, Kuwait, Tunisia, Algeria, China, Sri Lanka, Bosnia, former Yugoslavia, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, the Sudan, Ethiopia, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and Columbia.

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