Human migration can provide opportunities and challenge societies.
Challenges facing refugees and the support from societies
By Maddison Hrstich
Have you ever thought about the challenges refugees face and how they can be supported by societies? My group has investigated into how human migration can provide opportunities and challenge societies. I have focussed on refugees and how organisations can support them when settling into New Zealand. I have also explored the global distribution of refugees, the historic reasons for refugees coming to New Zealand and how they are supported in their resettlement today.I have researched into how government organizations support refugees and, in particular, how community groups work establish refugees into Wellington. I have interviewed Amanda Calder from the Refugee Reunification Trust (RRT), Thomas Hunacke the Senior Advisor to the Minister of Justice, Vivienne Maidaborn, the Unicef CEO , Mrs Wood and Year 9 class leaders, who fundraise for RRT and surveyed the public for their opinion on the refugee quota. What Is a refugee? Firstly I needed to find out what a refugee is. 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 frightened because they have been in a torturous environment in a refugee camp, they most likely have lost all contact with all family members 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. What is the global distribution of refugees? Why are they in these locations Next I needed to find out where the refugees come from. More than half the refugees come from Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia. These countries have experienced war. Afghanistan remains the country with the most refugees (2,56 million), due to violence within their country. The majority of Afghan refugees live in Pakistan and Iran, in camps and rough conditions, where many die due to cold and illness. As of September 2013, there were more than 1.1 million Somalis displaced internally and nearly one million refugees living in neighboring countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, and Yemen. Somalia has been engulfed in conflict since 1991, and many of its citizens have been displaced ever since. Violence and drought conditions have caused multiple waves of displacement over the years, and most recently the 2011-12 famine claimed over 260,000 lives. The majority of Syrian refugees are living in Jordan and Lebanon. In August 2013, more Syrians escaped into northern Iraq at a newly opened border crossing. Now they are trapped by that country's conflict, and Iraq is struggling to meet the needs of Syrian refugees on top of more than one million internally displaced Iraqis. An increasing number of Syrian refugees are fleeing across the border into Turkey.
What are the reasons for refugees arriving in New Zealand? The first refugees who came to New Zealand, came in the 1870s -1940s,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. 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. lots of refugee groups came From the 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 Interchurch 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
•
292 Poles who fled Poland when it was under military rule 1981-1083
Refugees from the Middle East 1970 -1990 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 it's outcome led to thousands of Vietnamese risking voyaged on overcrowded , 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 granted 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.
Some benefits of New Zealand is our Education Health care and that we are safer than lots of other countries. What Government organizations are involved in settling refugees into the host country? 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 that 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 before
they are resettled in five communities around New Zealand. The main places are; Auckland, Waikato, Manawatu, Wellington and Nelson. 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 nonrecoverable 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: 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. 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. What we do Family and Community Services works at both a national and regional level and covers all geographical areas in New Zealand. Our roles We have two main roles within the family and community sector: • a provider and funder of services that includes information and advice for families and to communities • a leader and coordinator of services for families at a general as well as a case work level. Family and community services 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. They do 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 • •
A provider and funder of services that is information and advice for and to communities A leader and co-coordinator of services for families at a general as well as a case work level
This organisation also provides support for refugees. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/1F4F5231-‐0974-‐430F-‐AE7A-‐ CD11CAE76227/0/RefugeeResettlementStrategy.pdf
What is the experience of a refugee arriving in NZ and what systems are in place to support them? Church, community, language, employment I found out what it is like to come into a new country as a refugee. 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. A Mother's Story - Beatrice's case study 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 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. Beatrice and I went and did a street survey to find out the public opinion on the questions below. Survey results
How can refugees retain their cultural identity and assimilate into a new country at the same time? I also wanted to find out how refugees can start a whole new life but still talk in the language they used in their home country. 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 , beliefs , customs and language.-Maddi's work 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 physical and mental health checks to assess their settlement needs. 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. 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 livingliving off the land, which is difficult to do when living in a block of flats in Newtown. They meet everyWednesday 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.
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. 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, learnerfocused 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. 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. 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. 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. Conclusion Refugees can retain their cultural identity when they come to a new country but the challenges are that they need the right support when they arrive. They need support with housing, learning the language, education for their children and learning the ways of their host country. In New Zealand there are a number of different organisations set up to support refugees. To conclude I believe that I have widened my knowledge on refugees while investigating refugees in New Zealand and the support offered to them . I would love to investigate deeper into this subject. I would also like to try and donate to some of the charities mentioned above in the introduction and encourage my family and friends to as well. Bibliography http://info.arte.tv/en/where-‐do-‐refugees-‐come-‐where-‐are-‐they-‐going http://www.unrefugees.org/what-‐is-‐a-‐refugee/>
https://www.redcross.org.nz/what-‐we-‐do/in-‐new-‐zealand/refugee-‐services/resettlement-‐ programme/ http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/1F4F5231-‐0974-‐430F-‐AE7A-‐ CD11CAE76227/0/RefugeeResettlementStrategy.pdf http://www.newswire.co.nz/2011/01/learning-‐english-‐2/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpwqK3B2ac8.