I'm not your - Critic

process an average of 250 — 300 asylum claims each year.
Guy recalls United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
António Guterres’ visit to New Zealand earlier this year. “He
praised the quality of our resettlement programme, and
attended a Marae welcome ceremony for newly arrived
refugees in Hamilton. He said that it was ‘one of the most
genuine and moving reception ceremonies’ he had seen for
refugees anywhere in the world.”
National has recently claimed we must be prepared for a
mass arrival of asylum seekers by boat, but whether New
Zealand is a target is debatable. Amiri recalls that when he
left Afghanistan he had never even heard of New Zealand. “I
knew about Australia, but only in Nauru did I meet someone
from New Zealand and became interested.”
THey’re coming!!!
In April, the Government introduced the Immigration
Amendment Bill as a means to deter people smuggling and
cope with the potential mass arrival of asylum seekers. It is
a controversial piece of legislation and has already drawn
strong criticism from a wide range of
influential actors, including Amnesty
International, the New Zealand Human
Rights Council, the Refugee Council of
New Zealand, and the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees.
Guy says, “New Zealand has been targeted by people smuggling
operations in recent years, and we know that the risk is
real.” He believes the bill will show New Zealand is not a “soft
touch”, and will hopefully “discourage the dangerous and cruel
business of people smuggling, and help us deal with such an
arrival if it does occur.”
While the bill was designed to deter people smuggling, crit-
ics argue that in fact it is discriminatory to asylum seekers
arriving in groups by boat. Logie believes it only “sends a
message of mistrust, and reinforces a sense of fear and burden
[in the asylum seekers].” Further, it is seen as an unnecessary
response, as New Zealand has never had asylum seekers
arrive by boat.
One of the main points of contention is the definition of “mass
arrival” as an arrival of more than 10 people, far less than the
500 the bill was designed to deal with. The bill also allows for
the detention of “mass arrivals” for an initial period of six
months. According to Brydon, “detention can have serious
consequence on the rights and health of an individual”, and
should only be used as a “last resort”. From experience, Amiri
“It is inhumane and in contravention
of international law to punish
asylum seekers escaping war and
terror in order to send a message
to people smugglers.”
critic.co.nz
is also wary of the six months’ detention period. “Australia
said the same, to hold for six months, but it turned out to be
over three years.”
Brydon adds, “It is important to note that people smugglers
may be breaking the law, but asylum seekers are not. It is
inhumane and in contravention of international law to punish
asylum seekers escaping war and terror in order to send a
message to people smugglers.”
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Ref-
ugees also expressed their concern. “The combined effect of
these proposed measures represents a significant change of
direction from New Zealand’s traditional, and very positive,
approach to asylum-seekers and refugees.”
so WHere To noW?
While sad to have left Afghanistan, Amiri is very grateful
for the opportunity to start a new life with his family in New
Zealand. “New Zealand is beautiful, it’s amazing, and I can’t
believe it. When I say to people that New Zealand is paradise
they don’t believe me, but actually it
is paradise.”
White argues that punishing the
people who are smuggled will not stop
people smuggling. Rather, regional
cooperation in shutting down the
people running the smuggling operations themselves is
the answer. Brydon agrees, and believes governments need
“to address the reasons that force asylum seekers onto boats.”
We live incredibly safe and sheltered lives here in New Zealand,
especially in the haven of North Dunedin. While this is not
a bad thing, we should not take it for granted and sit idly
by watching people suffer around the world. One way we
can help is to give those people a new chance at life here in
New Zealand.
Unlike Australia, we don’t have to deal with the immediate
issue of thousands of asylum seekers arriving by boat every
year. Our isolation gives us the advantage of time to create a
fair and just system to deal with asylum seekers, rather than a
poorly thought-through piece of legislation that will damage
our international reputation.
Perhaps Amiri can give us some directions for the future. “New
Zealand shouldn’t follow what the Australian government
did, because New Zealand is different. We are better than
Australia.” We certainly like to think so, don’t we?
sEEKiNG AsYLUM
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