A 2019 photo showing Eritrean refugees who had resettled in Christchurch. Photo: RNZ / Sara Vui-Talitu
A change in a 'discriminatory' refugee policy has seen a large increase in African and Middle Eastern families being resettled in New Zealand.
They now account for 60 percent of those settled since last July under the government refugee quota, compared to less than a fifth before the 2018 change.
Auckland and Christchurch have seen the biggest increase in refugees, and Levin is a new resettlement area with 36 arrivals in the last year.
A total of 132 people have arrived from Democratic Republic of Congo, 100 from Somalia and 85 from Eritrea, with significant percentage increases on previous years. In Asia, overall numbers are similar to pre-pandemic intakes, with the largest numbers from Myanmar (151) and Afghanistan (173).
The proportions from Asia, Africa and the Middle East make a big difference to the make-up of the quota over the last decade.
In 2010, the government introduced a 'family link' requirement for refugees from the Africa and Middle East, to place more emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region. Cabinet agreed to allocate 50 percent of places to the Asia-Pacific region, and 50 percent to the rest of the world, but staff could not find enough outside of Asia to meet those targets.
A Cabinet paper on how the policy was not meeting targets in 2018. Photo: Screenshot / supplied
A Cabinet paper on how the policy was not meeting targets in 2018.
The criteria were described as racist by some non-government organisations (NGOs) and community groups, as it blocked most African refugees unless they had relatives here.
The then immigration minister, Iain Lees Galloway announced the change in 2018.
An INZ chart tracing the countries quota refugees have come from over the last 10 years. Photo: INZ / MBIE / Screenshot
The change has reversed the figures compared to 10 years ago, when 16 percent of refugees were from Africa or Asia.
New source countries this year have included Papua New Guinea, Yemen and Kyrgyzstan, while Myanmar, Afghanistan and Syria remain the three most common.
Resettlement areas
The government increased the annual UNHCR quota to 1500 in 2020, but border restrictions meant only 1800 arrived over the three pandemic-hit years.
Official resettlement areas and numbers have also changed. Invercargill, Blenheim, Timaru, Ashburton, Masterton and Levin were added to the regions that accept refugees over the last six years.
The regions where refugees have been resettled over the last decade. Photo: INZ/MBIE / screenshot
Christchurch saw the largest increase in refugees this year from 48 to 116. Auckland, where resettlement was highest until housing shortages prompted a rethink in the 2010s, is now once again the most popular city with 203 new refugees compared to 121 last year. Waikato and Manawatū have also increased, but arrivals in Wellington have fallen off.
The resettlement programme uses groupings of nationalities in many towns and cities, for example refugees from Syria, Myanmar and Columbia in the capital. Figures from the last five years show Colombians also being settled in Blenheim and Invercargill, while in Waikato, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the most common source countries. Myanmar and Palestine were the top two in Auckland and Christchurch has seen an influx from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Somalia.
The breakdown of nationalities shows Pakistanis are the largest refugee grouping in Timaru and Syrians in Masterton. Photo: INZ/MBIE
Meanwhile, the numbers of people who claim asylum in New Zealand after they arrive looks set to increase, compared to pre-pandemic numbers.
A response to a parliamentary written question asked by National shows almost 250 people arrived on tourist visas and applied for asylum from when the borders reopened in August until mid-April.
Combined with refugee claims by people already in New Zealand and those who arrived on different visas, 424 people have claimed asylum in the current financial year.
Ukrainians and Russians are among them (17 and 10 claims respectively over the last two years) but the largest numbers are from India, China and Malaysia.
The number who were successful has continued to fall, with only one in five being approved compared to more than one in three six years ago.
Of those approved since last July, 14 are from China, nine from India, seven from Myanmar and six from Fiji.