"New Zealand is treating migrants like waste products using them and then throwing them away, says Wigram MP Jim Anderton.
"They come under policies that allow and encourage them to come, and then when things turn bad we kind of dispose of them like a waste product," he said yesterday. "It's inhumane."
Anderton will attend a meeting today at Christchurch's Skilled Migrant Information and Resource Centre on fair treatment for migrants who are being forced out of New Zealand if they lose their jobs.
He said skilled migrants should be given time and help in finding another job if made redundant and should qualify for government assistance while unemployed.
Migrants in his electorate had been caught out by the change in economic conditions and were being told to head home.
"People come here in good faith with good skills to offer," Anderton said.
"It shouldn't be that long before things pick up again and we'll be after the same skills, but people burnt by this won't be enthusiastic about recommending New Zealand....." more here
Mr Anderton is a master of the understatement and news is already spreading fast with rumours that British newspaper "The Sun" is to investigate the affair.
Is the door closing on Skilled migration in New Zealand?
What isn't really coming out in some of the press reports is that some applications/renewals for visas are being made by migrants with job offers but they're turned down - despite them meeting all the necessary pre-requisites and having jobs that are either on the Long Term Skill Shortage List or the Immediate Skill Shortage List.
Filipino migrants threaten to become overstayers
Last month the plight of thousands of Filipino migrants threatened with expulsion from New Zealand was raised by the Philippine consul-general Emilie Shi. 30,000 Filipino migrants hold work permits or are on work to residence schemes.
She called on the NZ government to "have some compassion and human consideration" when workers were refused visa extensions. According to the Department of Labour there were New Zealanders available to do their work. But if New Zealanders are available for work why aren't they given the jobs - why were they offered to migrants? Could it be that there is still a skills shortage in New Zealand!
Some of the migrants threatened to remain in the country and work illegally, rather than be forced to return home and lose everything they owned. This led to calls from INZ for migrant support groups to "dob-in" (report) overstayers. Since then the problem has grown worse and migrants from other countries have become caught up in what many are starting to call NZ's new 'anti-immigration' policy.
See also:
Call to create fund for migrants
British immigrants face a hostile reception after Maoris call for curb
New Zealand encourages migration to fill its coffers.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/relocatingabroad/6515584/Buy-your-way-into-New-Zealand-for-658000.html
"Buy your way into New Zealand for £658,000
New Zealand opens its borders to business people in a bid to boost its economic performance."
On the other hand, if you don't have hundreds of thousands to give its banks to loan to landlords to buy up more land, you can migrate and give the small nation your hard work and skills - and hemorrhage your measly income into its landlord-dominated economy.
See our 'NZ Facts of Life' page to see how important migrants are to the New Zealand economy in comparison to the local stock.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, interesting article. Not least because it calls "NZ a Pacific Ocean Island" with an "evolving economy". Is this one that most people would want to risk investing in? it makes the country sound positively 'third world' (to use an out of date expression)
The article's discussion of the visa requirements mentions that proficiency in the English Language is not required. That suggests that NZ has its sights set firmly on the Golden Triangle of China, Malaysia and Singapore. All a tolerable plane flight away from NZ.
Our feeling about these visas is that they will attract mostly rich retirees who will jet in and out, doing little to benefit the local economies. NZ is turning into one big retirement village.
Many of these articles have been posted before on other forums. Connecting the dots is....illuminating. I search and offer connection on various links. Edit away as needed, N. ;)
ReplyDeleteI applaud your strategy of getting the information out there where people can find it in the search returns they are likely to get. YOU GO FOR IT.
It's important that people inform themselves as to how dire the conditions are here. They will NOT find this out without searching VERY very hard. You are the only webmaster stepping out there to make the data more available to the people looking for it via twitter and other state of the art communication means. 5 stars!
They are extremely cynical about who they "pull in". "Fit" doesn't matter to them. I have lived in a number of countries around the world and fit in OK, including with people racially more different from myself than Kiwis are. I was amazed by the paucity of connection with Kiwis versus people who were considerably racially and linguistically more different from myself.
ReplyDeleteIf you want warmth and connection with other people, NZ is not the place to come to. Very ironically, folks racially different from yourself may actually have a society more "livable". My favorite warm people on earth? Filipinos and Malaysians.