The Refugee Council of New Zealand is hosting two sessions on immigration issues arising from from Covid-19. Refugees and asylum seekers are welcome to come.
Which Country Do You Identify With?
The Refugee Council of New Zealand got cultural at this year’s Auckland International Cultural Festival in lovely Mt. Roskill. When festival goers were asked which country they most identified with–the wee flags planted on our world map multiplied in droves! We featured some of our favourite famous refugees (Albert Einstein, Bob Marley, Jackie Chan, Anne Frank) and festival goers got to try their hand at refugee knowledge quiz questions that earned them jelly beans–(even when they got the answer wrong!) A fun day with over 500 visitors to stop and chat at our booth alone, including numerous MPs and Dame Susan Devoy.
Proud Moment for Young New Zealander of the Year
Congratulations to lawyer and refugee activist Rez Gardi for winning the Young New Zealander of the Year Award for 2017.
Her interview with Radio Live here [Listen].
NZ still offering to take 150 Australian asylum seekers: What is the deal behind the deal? [Opinion Column]
Prime Minister Bill English met with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The offer to take 150 of Australia’s asylum seekers still stands, not yet taken up. Journalist Tracey Barnett gives her opinion on the deal behind the deal here.
Oscar Kightley urges NZ to speak out about refugees
New Zealand actor Oscar Kightley says the government should be raising humanitarian concerns with Australia over its offshore detention of refugees.
From Radio Live [Listen here.]
Palmerston North Community Leaders Support Refugee intake increase
The Palmerston North community calls to take more refugees into their community.
Via The Manawatu Standard. [Read more].
Donald Trump’s Australia [Opinion Column]
From the New York Time, “Australia is now a nation where, according to an opinion poll from last year, 49 percent support a ban on Muslim immigration, a result so shocking the pollsters did it twice before releasing it. A similar poll the previous year had that figure at 28 percent. Even allowing for the vagaries of polling data, those results signal a remarkable change in a short period.
“I understand the difficulty of Mr. Turnbull’s position. But the reaction here to Mr. Trump represents the resurgence of our worst instincts. We’re doomed if, in the face of this flirtation, the best we can muster is silence.”
New Kiwi Women Writers Shine
Great new programme for refugee women writers.