Human Migration can Provide Opportunities and Challenge Societies
By Beatrice Fordham Duncan 6CM
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ntroduction: My group and I were dead set on investigating how human migration can provide opportunities and challenge societies-‐ as we tried to dig deeper into this big idea, we found some other lines of inquiry to investigate that were linked to this. The challenges facing refugees and the support they get from organisations and community groups, what does this mean? You might think. This concept seemed to grab me by the shoulder and take me under. My journey involved investigating this confusing inquiry, meeting new people and using all my research, thinking and listening skills to collect all the information I needed. I was able to look into all the different aspects of this inquiry and link them into my questions: Page | 4
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What is a refugee? What is New Zealand's refugee policy? What are the reasons for refugees arriving in New Zealand (past and present and the impact of war) What government organisations are involved in settling refugees into the host country? What is the experience of a non-‐quota refugee arriving in New Zealand and what systems are in place to support them? Church, community, language, employment. How can refugees retain their cultural identity and assimilate into the new country at the same time?
I was lucky enough to interview some specialists for this inquiry-‐ Amanda Calder-‐(Former lawyer and chair of Refugee Family Reunification Trust) , Paul Foster Bell (Former New Zealand diplomat and current MP in the national party)
Viviene Maidaborn (CEO of UNICEF)
Thomas Honeke (Senior Advisor to the Minister of Justice)
What is a refugee? :
A refugee is someone who has been forced to leave their country (a displaced person) because of persecution, war, natural disasters or violence. Refugees have a fear of being persecuted because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or if they belong to a particular social group. Usually, a refugee can't return home or are too scared to go back to their home country. War and culture, tribal and religious violence are the main causes of why refugees leave their countries. The refugees never want to leave their home, but they have to. When a refugee arrives in a new country, they are scared and scarred because they have been in a torturous environment in a refugee camp, they most likely have lost all contact with all family members Page | 5
that may have been left at the refugee camp. The refugee isn't able to speak the main language, so they have to rebuild their life from scratch. (From: http://www.unrefugees.org/what-‐is-‐a-‐refugee/, 2015)
What is New Zealand's refugee policy? : The Refugee and Protection Unit
The Refugee and Protection Unit promotes co-‐ordinated responses to refugee issues, capacity building, and the ongoing development of policies and best practice in refugee protection. To do this the Unit works closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and foreign governments. New Zealand’s obligations to refugees New Zealand is one of over 120 countries that are signatories to the 1951 United Nations Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. New Zealand also has protection obligations under the 1984 Convention against Torture and 1966 Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Refugee resettlement strategy The Strategy is a way of working to achieve improved resettlement. Successful settlement is achieved when people can participate fully in their new community and the Strategy aims to help people become self-‐sufficient in their new lives. The Strategy has five goals: Self-‐sufficiency – all working-‐age refugees are in paid work or are supported by a family member in paid work. Participation – refugees actively participate in New Zealand life and have a strong sense of belonging here.
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Health and wellbeing – refugees and their families enjoy healthy, safe and independent lives education – English language skills help refugees participate in education and daily life housing – refugees live in safe, secure, healthy and affordable homes without needing government housing assistance. Settlement information for refugees The Refugee and Protection Unit produces factsheets and videos to support quota refugees, approved asylum seekers, and those approved under the Refugee Family Support Category, who are settling in New Zealand. The objectives are: To provide information and advice based on the knowledge and experiences of recently resettled refugees To provide information about the reality of living in New Zealand to help manage expectations pre-‐arrival To assist refugees to settle into the community as quickly as possible. Refugee quota programme The New Zealand Government has a refugee quota programme which offers 750 places per year. Quota refugees resettled in New Zealand can apply under the quota for family reunification with spouses and dependent children mandated as refugees by UNHCR. Refugee Family Support Category The New Zealand Government offers 300 places per year for eligible refugees resident in New Zealand to sponsor family members to join them in New Zealand. See How to sponsor refugee family under the RFSC and residence criteria. Refugee and protection status Eligible persons in New Zealand can apply for refugee and protected person status – where a person fears returning to a country where they risk serious harm, torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Country research The Refugee and Protection Unit undertakes country research for decision-‐makers in asylum claims. Refugee statistics The Refugee and Protection Unit collates historical and current refugee statistics about the refugee quota programme, asylum seekers and the Refugee Family Support Category. ( From: http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/general/generalinformation/refugee-‐protection/, 2015)
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Right now, there is a lot of controversy going on because the government doesn't want to change the refugee quota- (the quota is the amount of refugees we take each year) John Key says that he thinks that the quota is at a good amount and that it doesn't need to be changed. The Refugee quota is going to be reviewed at the beginning of 2016. I think that the refugee quota should be changed because if you think, there are millions upon millions of refugees displaced around the world and think that we take 750, less than 1000 a year, it is a very small amount.
What are the reasons for refugees arriving in New Zealand? ( Past and Present and the impact of war.):
1870s-‐1940s Most of the first refugees that came to New Zealand came in the 1870s -‐1940s. Most of the refugees that came here came because of persecution or a country that invaded/took over their country. The Danes (Danish) came to New Zealand when the Germans invaded their country and wouldn’t let them speak their language or show and express their culture, the people who were lucky enough to flee Denmark came to New Zealand so that they could be free to show their religion. In New Zealand we are free to show our diverse religions and cultures. Another group of refugees had to flee their country were the Jews because they were under persecution in Russia. Refugees arrived from Nazism in 1933-‐1939 and some refugees came from Poland in 1944 during the war. Because there was political controversy in Poland, they were allowed to stay permanently in NZ.
1950s-‐1970s: From 1949-‐1952 there were some European displaced persons. At first, the New Zealand government was reluctant to accept European displaced people into the country. After a long time, New Zealand finally started to accept a limited amount of them. New Zealand Selection Mission were very careful about who they took from the Europeans. They also tried to exclude the groups that were ' not at one with ourselves' they made sure that they were from the Baltic-‐states instead of being Jews or Slavs. But the other displaced persons who were Jews were accepted. In this period of time, around 4,500-‐5,000 people came to New Zealand. They came here on ships from the International Refugee Organisation.
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From 1956-‐1958 some Hungarian refugees came to New Zealand because of the refugee catastrophe after the Hungarian rebellion against the Communist regime. About 1,100 refugees who had fled Hungary were accepted. Because the refugees were white, the government was kinder and gave them a warmer welcoming. In about 1959, some handicapped refugees started to come to New Zealand, it is harder for the handicapped refugees to get into other countries because they may have ill health, a disability, are at an old age or have a large amount of children with them. New Zealand was one of the first countries in the world to accept handicapped refugee families. By the time of about 1963, New Zealand had relocated around 200 refugee families with handicapped people. From 1962-‐1971 Chinese refugees came in big groups and arrived in New Zealand because they were fleeing communist rule and civil war. New Zealand didn't react straight away because of the unwillingness to accept refugees who were not white. Eventually a small amount were allowed in. Also, some Chinese orphans from Hong Kong were let in for adoption with Kiwi families, the quota for accepting the Chinese refugees was 6 families a year. In 1965, New Zealand welcomed 80 people from a community of Russian fundamentalist Christians who were called the 'Old Believers". They had to flee to China because of persecution, they were known as hard to resettle because they always wanted to be settled in large groups. From 1968-‐1971 some Czechoslovak refugees arrived in New Zealand because of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia which happened in 1968. New Zealand wanted and was very happy to accept a small amount of Czechoslovak refugees because New Zealand was against Communism. Similar to the Hungarian community, the Czechoslovaks were white and had qualifications that New Zealand needed. About 125 people came from Czechoslovakia came from 1968-‐1971 In 1972-‐1973 some Asian refugees from Uganda came because of the international appeals to help some Asians who were expelled from Uganda because of President Idi Amin's 'Africanisation' policy. In 1972-‐1973, 244 Ugandan Asians came to New Zealand. Some benefits of New Zealand is our Education Health care is that we are safer than lots of other countries.
Lots of refugee groups came to settle in New Zealand for many reasons:
1970s -‐ 2003
Chilean refugees 1974-‐1981 New Zealand allowed In 354 out of thousands of Chileans who had fled their country after the army’s overthrow of the Allende government in 1973. They were the first refugees helped by New Zealand’s Inter-‐ church Commission on Immigration and Refugee Resettlement. The commission was founded in 1976 to work with the government on refugee resettlement. Soviet Jews and Eastern Europeans Small numbers of refugees from the Soviet Union and other European countries under Soviet domination settled in New Zealand from the 1970 until the collapse of the communist governments of Eastern-‐Europe. That included 335 Soviet Jews, 507 refugees under the eastern European quota and 292 Poles who fled Poland when it was under military rule 1981-‐1083 Refugees from the Middle East 1970 -‐1990
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People fleeing persecution and wars, involving Iran -‐ Iraq war, began arriving from the middle-‐east in the 1970. A group of Baha'i refugees from Iran arrived in 1979. In between 1987 and 1989 a further 142 Iranian Baha'is settled in New Zealand. Assyrian Christians who had fled Iraq to refugee camps in Greece Started arriving in-‐ 1980-‐around 140 refugees came from 1085 and 1989. Others from the Middle East included Iraqi soldiers who abandon after the 1991 Gulf war South-‐East Asian (Indochinese) refugees, 1975–94 The Vietnam War and its outcome led to thousands of Vietnamese risking voyaged on over crowded, scarcely seaworthy vessels to flee Vietnam. Some of these Vietnamese boat people came to New Zealand. Cambodians and Laotians also escaped invasion, control and persecution. Between 1977 and 1993, 5,200 Cambodians 4,500 Vietnamese and 1,200 Laotians were accepted for settlement in New Zealand Diverse arrivals, 1992–2003 Small groups of refugees entered New Zealand in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They were 94 Somalis who had escaped civil war, drought and famine between 1992 and 1994. These were the first people to come to New Zealand from Africa in large numbers. By 2006 there were 1,857 Somalis in New Zealand. Some had arrived as refugees, and others had emigrated under the family reunification scheme. From 2000 to 2003, around 1,800 Zimbabweans fleeing government persecution were given permanent residence. Bosnian refugees arrived in New Zealand between 1992 and 1995, after conflict in the former Yugoslavia resulted in the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War. In 1998–99 the government agreed to accept about 600 displaced people from Kosovo. In the late 1990s small groups were accepted from a range of countries including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iran and the Sudan. About 130 refugees from Afghanistan who had been on board the ship Tampa were accepted for settlement in 2001, after Australia made it difficult for them to stay in that country. ( From: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/refugees, 2013)
When Year 6 interviewed Thomas Honeke, I asked him about what he thought motivated refugees to come to New Zealand, he said that they might come because of war, the war leaves them with nothing Page | 10
left so they are forced to leave, because they have to escape from the persecution and war. Amanda Calder said that the refugees actually have no choice of which country they go to as long as they were safe, but were happy when they came here because of the good education and health care available for the children and themselves.
What government organisations are involved in settling refugees into the host country? When a refugee arrives in the host country, they need support of government created organisations. There are quite a few organisations that are in place to help the refugees when they come to New Zealand.
Refugee Resettlement Strategy New Zealand
The New Zealand Refugee Resettlement Strategy is aimed to help refugees once they are recognised and accepted to come into New Zealand. The strategy is a way of achieving improved resettlement. The government agencies worked together with the non-‐government organisations and the refugee communities, so that the Refugee Resettlement Strategy could begin from July 2013.
The five goals of the New Zealand Refugee Resettlement Strategy:
1. Self Sufficiency-‐ Al, of the working-‐age refugees are in paid work or are supported by a family member who works in a job that is paid. 2. Participation-‐ The refugees keenly take part in New Zealand life and have a strong sense of belonging in the country. 3. Health and Wellbeing-‐ The refugees and their family are able to enjoy a healthy, safe and independent life. 4. Education-‐ English language skills help the refugees to participate in school and in daily life. 5. Housing-‐ Make sure that the refugees live in safe, secure, healthy and inexpensive homes, without having to need government housing assistance.
Red Cross Red Cross helps to care for those whose lives have been forced to change due to natural disaster, conflict or persecution. Red Cross helps the refugees through the quota programme and they work with the refugees to complete a 6 week orientation programme at the Department of Immigration's Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre in Auckland. Before they are resettled in five communities around New Zealand. The main places are Auckland, Waikato, Manawatu, Wellington and Nelson. The government are able to decide on where the refugees will be resettled thinking about a number of different factors. Credibility, risk and settlement assessments. Family and community services
They do have family and community Services that works at both a national and regional level and covers all the geographical areas in New Zealand. They have two main roles, they are a provider and funder of services that is information and advice for and to communities and they are a leader and co-‐coordinator of services for families at a general as well as a case work level. This organisation provides support for refugees throughout the whole time that they are in New Zealand. Page | 11
When refugees arrive in New Zealand, they have to go through a process of 3 stages to become settled into the new country.
Stage 1: On Arrival Orientation: Department of Labour-‐ 6 week orientation in the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre Initial Resettlement support: Refugee Services Aotearoa New Zealand-‐ Non-‐government organisation that provides the initial support for the refugees when they arrive in Mangere. Housing Support: Housing New Zealand Corporation-‐ Housing NZ works with refugee services to ensure that the quota refugees are resettled in areas where support services are available. They always try to make sure that the housing is appropriate for the refugees. Financial Support: Work and Income New Zealand-‐ Work and Income New Zealand gives the refugees the availability of a recoverable grant for accommodation of up to $800 and a non-‐recoverable grant of $1,200 for things like beds and essential appliances, costs for connecting phone, electricity and gas, clothing, English language classes and the translation costs for work-‐related documents. Stage 2: Building a new life Compulsory education: Ministry of Education-‐ All children from 6-‐16 yrs old as part of the law, must attend school. School is a big part of the resettlement programme so that the refugees can get high quality education and their families can be more involved in the new country. The Ministry of Education also provides funding for:
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Up to 5 years of English Language Support for refugee background students in schools Homework and academic support programmes for refugee background students Bi-‐lingual liaison support for schools to link with refugee families Bi-‐lingual tutor in-‐class support careers guidance Programmes for secondary school refugee background children Computers for refugee families, with centre based training for parents and in-‐home computer support for 12 months, for 80 -‐ 100 families annually.
Learning English: Tertiary Education Commission-‐ The Tertiary Education Commission provides the funding for a lot of English
Language Support for adults. Employment: Career Services-‐ Career services helps the refugees to link their skills and experience to jobs, training and careers in New Zealand by delivering realistic information, advice and support about what jobs and training that they should take up. New Zealand Qualifications Authority-‐The New Zealand Qualifications Authority gives the free assessment of overseas qualifications for the quota refugees. Work and Income-‐ Work and Income gives support for the refugees who need work search support, income support and in-‐work support. Department of Labour-‐ The Department of Labour wants the refugees and their families to settle quickly and have work that will contribute to their family's future in New Zealand. Health: Ministry of Health-‐ in the areas where refugees are resettled, the Ministry of Health recognise that the pre-‐arrival experiences of refugees have implications for their health care. They make sure that all health services are provided. Information: Department of Labour-‐ Department of Labour makes sure that the refugees have the information that they need to get support. Police-‐ The police are ready whenever a refugee is in need and can provide information about the law for them, the refugees can ask them any questions at any time. Stage 3: Building Communities Ongoing support: Family& Community Services-‐ The Family and Community services provides support for the refugees throughout the whole time that they are in New Zealand. Page | 13
The Office of Ethnic Affairs-‐ The Office of Ethnic Affairs is trying to indorse the benefits of diversity in New Zealand and providing leadership on ethnic issues-‐ this means helping the refugees to maintain their cultural identity. Language Line: Telephone Interpreting Service-‐ The Office of Ethnic Affairs also provides a Language Line for people who speak little or no English. Becoming a New Zealand Citizen: Department of Internal Affairs-‐ The Department of Internal Affairs helps you to become a citizen which means that the refugees are able to do whatever a normal citizen can do in New Zealand. Strengthening Refugee Voices: Department of Labour-‐ This initiative was made because of the need for more engagement at local and national levels with already settled refugees. The initiative is to support regular communication between settled refugee communities and local settlement services.
When interviewing MP Paul Foster Bell, I videoed him and found out some of the government organisations that he thought would be good to interview. When asked this question he recommended organisations like the Red Cross. When I interviewed Amanda Calder, I asked her this question as well and she responded with the Red Cross and Refugee Trauma Recovery.
What is the experience of a non-quota refugee arriving in NZ country and what systems are in place to support them? (Church, community, language, employment): My Case Study: A Mother's Story
Muhubo arrived in New Zealand in 2006 and it had been very hard for her because she had to leave all her children back home in Africa. Every night she thought about them and was worrying for them, were they safe being so far away from her? She knew that they were not receiving any education in Africa and that they hadn't been having a Page | 14
parent to love them and teach them, all she was able to do was to send a little bit of money from her benefit each week. It seemed like she might have to give up on getting her children here and supporting them, until she found out that she was able to apply to the Refugee Family Reunification Trust to get her children to New Zealand, she could never have paid for the cost of the airfares on her own. She was so grateful to the kind donors who would help her to hold her children in her arms again. She said to the kind donors "The trust is bringing our family together again. You have made me so happy. I will be able to give my children a new life and watch them grow up in a safe community. You are giving them life and I thank you from the depths of my heart." She was very excited for when her family would arrive… Outcome: Muhubo didn't have to wait any longer, The Refugee Family Reunification Trust paid $7,600 for the airfares so that she could bring her family from Kenya, Africa to Wellington, New Zealand. They arrived in April 2011. (From: Refugee Family Reunification Trust Newsletter-‐ No. 10 -‐November 2011) What is the Refugee Family Reunification Trust?: The Refugee Family Reunification Trust is a non-‐government based organisation that helps refugee families to be reunited if they have been separated while trying to flee a country, the only way that the family can be reunited is if one family member has been accepted into New Zealand through the quota programme. What do they do for the refugees?: The trust pays for airfares, finding accommodation and the trust also looks after the paperwork because the refugees usually arrive with no passport or birth certificate so that if they want to gain citizenship then they need both of those things. The trust also provides furniture for the refugees. Year 9 work: QMC Year 9's raise funds for the trust through the annual community fair and contribute to a family each year, they take part in this for community service. As part of this they knit peggy squares to make rugs, they sometimes also make personal backpacks for each refugee so that they feel comfortable in the new country e.g. warm socks and hats and games for the kids. Faduma's story -‐Maddi's Case Study In 1988 a civil started in Faduma's home country Somalia, and forced his family and herself to flee to an Ethiopian refugee camp where they lived for 10 years. As a single mother of three. Faduma's eldest child being disabled, Faduma stumbled upon many harsh living places in the refugee camp. Such as little and difficult access to basic needs like food, water and shelter. In 1997 the UNHCR took notice of the situation and the New Zealand government allowed her three children and herself under the refugee quota program. They arrived in 1999. She said since the day she arrived in to New Zealand the people have been nothing but supportive and her children now have a good education and a bright future. (From: Refugee Family Reunification Trust Newsletter-‐ No. 10 -‐November 2011)
Maddi and I went out into the public to ask them what they thought about the refugee quota, these were the questions we asked: Do you think New Zealand should take in 600 Syrian refugees-extra to the quota, over the next 3 years? Why/Why not? Page | 15
Do you think New Zealand should increase the refugee quota of 750 per year? How Many? Why/Why not?
The first graph shows the people who thought that the refugee quota should be increased and the Syrian refugees
should be allowed into the country. The second graphs shows people who thought that we should increase the current refugee quota of 750 per year. I found from this survey that a lot of people wanted to be able to accept more refugees but wanted to know if New Zealand was capable of looking after more refugees. To collect some of the information for this question I went out with Maddi to Te Papa to see some of the exhibits of how the refugees feel when they come to a new country, or when they leave their old one. Former refugee Stefania Manterys had said how he felt, his quote was in the exhibit, ' I remember nothing but evil; painful festering sores all over my body… mosquito bites, bed bugs, the intense cold and of course the hunger, the never ending hunger!' I also summarised some disadvantages and advantages of New Zealand for a refugee. Page | 16
Plus +
Minus
Safe
Family
Shelter
Identity? What am I?
Family
Trauma
Support
Memories
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How can a refugee retain their cultural identity and assimilate into the new country at the same time?: When a refugee arrives in a new country, they need to be able to maintain their mother tongue, their religion and their cultural identity. The Croatians set up a group to retain their cultural identity: In the early to mid-‐90s there was a civil war in the forma Yugoslavia displaced many of its counties residents resulting in many refugees from that country seeking refuge in many countries around the world. The Croats formed a club called the Croatian cultural club to support the Croatian refugees and their families which benefited in helping them maintain their cultural ways, belief, customs and language.-‐Maddi's work What do the refugees do at the Mangere resettlement centre? When the refugees go to the Mangere Resettlement centre they complete an orientation focusing on English language skills and the information they need to help people live in New Zealand, involving law and customs, shopping and cooking. They also complete a physical and mental health checks to assess their settlement needs. Retaining Cultural Identity: When Amanda came to talk to us, she told us that when the refugees come to a new country, there may be some refugees here already, this means that the refugees can meet to speak their language and keep in touch with their religion. e.g. there is a large Somalian community in Newtown who are supported by a group called the Wellington Somali Council and this community group brings all the Somali refugees together. They also organise programmes that the refugees can participate in e.g. Social Work & Advocacy Services, Sport for Youth, Youth Focus Group, Women's groups and a Multi-‐ethnic Refugee Study Centre is in place for the refugees. Multicultural Learning and Support Services: Learning English is always hard for a refugee so there is a group in Newtown, Multicultural Learning and Support services (MCLaSS) which has a diverse group of refugees who are students from Somalia, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Iraq, China and Eritrea. They are often used to subsistence living-‐ living off the land, which is difficult to do when living in a block of flats in Newtown. They meet every Wednesday to learn English, sometimes at the Newtown Library, where they try to cater for the diverse cultures living in the area. The trust also celebrates cultures, help to find employment and also work with Kaibosh to get food for the refugees. http://mclass.org.nz/
Ethiopian Orthodox Church: Another way of staying connected to religion is to go and pray at mosques and churches. There is an Ethiopian Orthodox church which is particularly involved with refugees, this church was originally in Berhampore but had its last service because it was earthquake prone so the processions have been moved to the Chapel of St Thomas in Riddiford Street, Newtown. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/the-wellingtonian/66983604/St-Cuthberts-finalservice-on-site Page | 17
Ethnic Youth Homework Centre: The Ethnic Youth Homework Centre is learning support for students who are refugees for two afternoons a week after school. Some volunteer tutors and students come together so that the refugees can experience a relaxed, learner-‐focused environment. The centre also provides the option of some holiday programmes as well. This gives the refugees opportunities to try out new activities and experiences in the new country. http://www.newswire.co.nz/2011/01/learning-‐english-‐2/ Family: Refugees always need to keep their culture and religion alive by sharing food and music with their families and remember the kinds of things that they used to do back in their home country. The refugees also need to share family legacies to learn about family stories. Troubles: The refugees sometimes have trouble getting used to the new things in the new country e.g. finding the ingredients for the food that they used to eat and getting used to seatbelts and cars. Another problem is that the refugees in the camps are hard to contact because most of the time, the camps do not have phones. Some Africans also haven't worn wool before. Education: The Wellington Somali Council set up the Ethnic Youth Homework Centre where some volunteers help people whose first language is not English. According to statistics, 99% of the students who went through the Ethnic Youth Homework Centre finished college and went on to Universities. A lot of the students that come to the centre are people like refugees. Another plus is that the teachers contact the programme to get updated on the student's progress, the parents can also come and talk about the progress of their child. The trust also supports adults for tutoring if need be. http://www.newswire.co.nz/2013/04/after-‐school-‐sessions-‐help-‐community-‐realise-‐educational-‐dream/ To answer this question I used a lot of the information from Amanda because she knows a lot about all the kinds of things that her refugees need to do to retain their cultural identity in New Zealand. She told me that one time she was driving a mother and son from the airport in her car, they had never been in a car before, so the little boy opened the door while they were driving and luckily the mother grabbed him! The refugees definitely have a lot to get used to. I also was able to talk to Miss Wood, the Year 9 dean who helps the Year 9's to collect all the donations for the Refugee Family Reunification Trust, she told us all about the donations that they make and the clothes and backpacks that they gather for the refugees. The Year 9's also came into talk to us quickly about it from their perspective, it was useful to talk to Amanda, Miss Wood and the Year 9's.
Conclusion: In conclusion, I think that I have collected lots of new knowledge on challenges facing refugees and the support they get from organisations and community groups, this inquiry has really impacted my learning and has also created more eagerness to learn even more about the subject of refugees. I had to use all the skills I had and I also had to find good questions that were linked to my line of inquiry, as I stated in my introduction. I was able to come to some summaries for each question, a refugee is a person who had to flee persecution, war or suppression of their religion. New Zealand accepts 750 refugees a year, we have a strict policy and we are reviewing the quota next year. The refugees who have recently come to New Zealand are fleeing war in Syria or are coming from the refugee camps in Lebanon. When refugees come through the quota programme, there is a long process to help them to become settled and there are Page | 18
organisations like the Red Cross and Mangere Resettlement Centre involved. When a refugee arrives in the new country, they need a lot of support and are quite frightened of the new country and new ways of living. A refugee needs to express their religion and share family legacies, they also need to be able to have an education or employment so that they can support themselves and settle into the new way of life. I have relished the opportunity to carry out this investigation and I hope that New Zealand will accept more refugees so that they can enrich our communities with their values, cultural and religious beliefs. I hope that someday I can volunteer for an organisation like the Refugee Family Reunification Trust and carry this knowledge throughout my whole life!
Bibliography
http://www.unrefugees.org/what-‐is-‐a-‐refugee/, 2015
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/general/generalinformation/refugee-‐protection/, 2015 http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/refugees, 2013 http://mclass.org.nz/ ,2015
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/the-wellingtonian/66983604/St-Cuthberts-finalservice-on-site ,2015
http://www.newswire.co.nz/2011/01/learning-‐english-‐2/ ,2011 http://www.newswire.co.nz/2013/04/after-‐school-‐sessions-‐help-‐community-‐realise-‐educational-‐dream/ ,2013 Amanda Calder-‐(Former lawyer and chair of Refugee Family Reunification Trust) , Paul Foster Bell (Former New Zealand diplomat and current MP in the national party) Viviene Maidaborn (CEO of UNICEF) Thomas Honeke (Senior Advisor to the Minister of Justice)
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