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Daan Kolthoff, Brightwater, Nelson*

2 October 2002.

An article recently published by the Indepentent News Ltd. newspapers (25 September 2002) stating the percentage of refugees on benefits, illustrated the ignorance about, and the indifference towards refugees, displayed by many New Zealanders. The outcome of a government evaluation, in response to a written parliamentary question by Mr. Winston Peters, showed that, two years after admittance to New Zealand, 40% of refugees are on benefits. Most Western countries would very much welcome such figures - but not New Zealand.

Why is that? What was Mr. Winston Peters trying to point out exactly, when saying "what a massive soft touch we are"?

The fact that we allow into New Zealand people that are persecuted because of their religious or political beliefs, their ethnic background or their sex, or people that fly from war, has nothing to do with being "soft", but simply comes from the international treaties that we, as one of many civilized nations, ratified (the Convention of Geneva, 1948 and the Protocol of New York, 1968). Our undersigned commitment is to offer recognized refugees ("refugees" being a word that is used very generally, but has a clearly defined status) a safe place and environment to continue their lives; as it is our obligation to assess whether seekers for asylum that enter New Zealand qualify for refugee status. People that are granted refugee status are therefore people that generally went through unimaginable experiences in the eyes of the average New Zealander; destroyed pasts, witnessing rape, torture and killings (often of their beloved ones), being chased away from their homes, (traditional) home territory or country, year long repression of their mother tongue or religious and ethnic identities, etc. etc. How can any person with some common sense expect refugees to adapt to a completely different environment, country, language, customs, etc. within only 2 years? How can one expect people that are haunted for their life time by the scenes they have witnessed, the experiences they have gone through, to simply join the workforce and be economically 'independent'? In that light 2 out of 5 refugees on a benefit seems extremely positive. Energy would be better used in assisting refugees to adapt to their new land, to teach people our language and make them familiar with the society they are now a part of. The sooner people feel at home, feeling welcome and safe, the bigger the chance is that people can also pick up their (working) lives. Quoted in the same article, Mr. Murray Mc Cully, the National immigration spokesman, said the figures showed that the true cost of accepting refugees was higher than presented by the Government, and there should be a debate about the issue. One can only hope that this was a matter of poor phrasing; not implying that costs should be reduced further than they already are. One definition of a civilized nation is the humanity and empathy a society is able to demonstrate for the less fortunate within and outside that society; to transfer the burden on the refugees -by definition the population most in need- doesn't exactly stand for the principles that the "Western World" likes to associate itself with since the French revolution.

It would be interesting to look at the figures generated by the "refugee industry". How many Government jobs are created by the influx of refugees, how many businesses thrive on the influx of refugees?

People like Mr. Winston Peters with their senseless rhetorics create an atmosphere that very much resembles the politics that caused refugees to fly their homeland. We should be careful not to go back to the late 30's/early 40's where openly expressed and accepted anti-Semitism was common practice in New Zealand (-politics) and which many aspirant refugees paid for with their lives.

* Daan Kolthoff: Recently immigrated to New Zealand after many years of working with refugees and international humanitarian aid organizations.

Previously based in the Netherlands working for the Dutch Government Immigration Service as a case officer for refugee applicants. A specialist on the Caucasus region. This involved in-depth research and writing of reports and checklists over Chechnya, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Also worked with Amnesty International, Medecins Sans Frontieres and MERLIN. The later two are both medical emergency relief organizations operating in Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Georgia, South Sudan and Bosnia.

ENDS

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