1,000 signatures reached
To: Immigration New Zealand, Minister of Immigration Michael Wood, Associate Minister of Immigration Phil Twyford.
Include Convention Refugees in the NZ Refugee Resettlement Strategy
We request that all rights, services and support under the New Zealand Refugee Resettlement Strategy be extended to people who have been granted legal status as Convention refugees.
Why is this important?
The Asylum Seeker Equality Project, initiated by the Human Rights team of the Wellington Community Justice Project and ChangeMakers Refugee Forum, seeks to secure equal resettlement support for all refugees in Aotearoa.
People granted Convention refugee status are people who claim asylum upon arrival in Aotearoa. In comparison, people with Quota refugee status are brought to Aotearoa under the UNHCR Resettlement Programme. This is the only practical difference between the statuses. People under each status come from the same war-stricken circumstances and flee the same persecution.
Despite this, only people with Quota refugee status receive official help and support upon their arrival to Aotearoa. Through the New Zealand Refugee Resettlement Strategy, they receive help with resettlement, accommodation, employment and education for the first 12 months of their life in New Zealand. These processes are imperative to meaningful resettlement.
People with Convention refugee status are denied this support and suffer increased hardship across all sectors of their lives. They endure human rights violations, harsh living conditions and are immediately marginalised by the government policy, making their transition into New Zealand society incredibly difficult.
By signing this petition you acknowledge that the Aotearoa New Zealand has a legal and moral obligation to ensure all people with refugee status in Aotearoa receive the same treatment and support.
Read the extensive nature of the inequalities in ChangeMakers's report "Marking Time" here: http://goo.gl/XvIUNF
People granted Convention refugee status are people who claim asylum upon arrival in Aotearoa. In comparison, people with Quota refugee status are brought to Aotearoa under the UNHCR Resettlement Programme. This is the only practical difference between the statuses. People under each status come from the same war-stricken circumstances and flee the same persecution.
Despite this, only people with Quota refugee status receive official help and support upon their arrival to Aotearoa. Through the New Zealand Refugee Resettlement Strategy, they receive help with resettlement, accommodation, employment and education for the first 12 months of their life in New Zealand. These processes are imperative to meaningful resettlement.
People with Convention refugee status are denied this support and suffer increased hardship across all sectors of their lives. They endure human rights violations, harsh living conditions and are immediately marginalised by the government policy, making their transition into New Zealand society incredibly difficult.
By signing this petition you acknowledge that the Aotearoa New Zealand has a legal and moral obligation to ensure all people with refugee status in Aotearoa receive the same treatment and support.
Read the extensive nature of the inequalities in ChangeMakers's report "Marking Time" here: http://goo.gl/XvIUNF