Migrant Stories - Skilled Migrants Must Drive Taxis To Survive

We've heard it many times - migrants have qualifications approved to gain permanent residency and then find NZ employers won't employ them because they won't recognise those same qualifications. It's madness, or perhaps xenophobic protectionism. Here's an article by David Kemeys in The (North) Shore Times to demonstrate the problem.

Mehmet Mohammed has problems. He's an immigrant from Turkey - and a Muslim.
"Camel jockey, sand nigger, bomb chucker - I've heard them all.

"People are quite distrusting of me because they think I'm an Arab and I'm going to blow them up or something. Or they think I must own a restaurant or a kebab shop."

Mehmet is an engineer - code for taxi driver where immigrants are concerned.

And it is on Auckland's taxi ranks where the horrible waste of talent is brought into sharp focus. Checking at Auckland's airport seven drivers - all Indians - were a radiographer, two engineers, an electrical engineer, an accountant, a teacher and a blood analyst chemist.

None can get work in their chosen fields for a variety of reasons, but mostly because their qualifications from Indian institutions are not recognised. Generally speaking they accept it with a shrug, arguing they came to New Zealand to secure a better life for their children.

But two of those seven are planning to abandon their dreams of a new life and return to India, where they say the economy is booming.
"The drunks are the worst. Some of them treat you like dirt, but I am not sure that's because we are Indian, or just because they are drunk," one of the drivers says.
"I've been called an elephant jockey," says another.
"I'm from Mumbai and I'd never seen an elephant until I visited the zoo here with my kids. It's incredible how ignorant some of the people are.
"They think we all wander about like Gandhi or beg in the streets, but Mumbai is a very highly developed city."

See also: Asians braced for a bashing- many Asians cannot understand why they are met with such hostility because they are meant to be sought-after migrants. Racism on the street is even directed at fourth generation New Zealand-born Asians who speak perfect English.
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Migrant Stories - A British Canadian's Perspective

From Expatforum.com this post was written recently by a British Canadian woman who'd returned to Canada after a spell in NZ. A good many of the problems she encountered are experienced by other migrants, she is by no means unique. (see Migrant tales from NZ)

"My husband and I just left NZ 2 weeks ago after living there for 11 months and we are now back living in Canada. I was born in the UK, but married a Canadian. I lived in the UK until I got married in 1986, lived in Canada until 2007 and then we moved back to the UK. My husband has the right to live and work in the UK. We spent 7 months in the UK and in March 2008 hubby saw a job advertised by an Accredited Employer in NZ. (Google Accredited Employers for a list of employers who sponsor people to move to NZ)

Our experience living and working in NZ was an absolute nightmare and it would take me days to explain why, it was mainly related to work, so may I suggest that you look into the following points extremely carefully before you make the move.

Employment - Make sure the job is what they say it is. Many employers lure people to NZ with great job offers and it turns out that it is not what they are making it out to be. I had a freind who was a NZ Police Officer, he told us that the NZ Police are one of the worst offenders for doing this and another friend who was in the Prison Service said the same thing. Some employers will hire you and not pay you. (That was my job, worked and never got paid a penny.) Still trying to get the money via a debt collection agency, but that's another story. I was ripped off by 2 different employers to the tune of $15,000.

Doctor's - You will pay for every visit to the Doctor, it ranges between $40 & $60 per visit, depending on which Doctor you get. That's if you can get a Dr., to regsiter with, as there is a definite shortage. The health system is like it was in the UK about 30 years ago, it SUCKS! If you are on expensive medication they have to apply for a special number from the government so you can get the medication and if they say no, then you either can't have it, or you will need to pay full price for it.

Shopping - We found prices to be high, for both food and household items. Most NZ'rs buy stuff 2nd hand from Trade Me because they can't afford new things. Wages are low compared to what things cost. Amongst other things, a cooked chicken as big as your fist, costs $15.99. Yes, they really are that small. 3 Litres of milk is $6.79 and forget cheese. There are places like the Warehouse where you can get cheaper things, but most of it is imported from China and breaks within a few weeks, cheap tat, but you get what you pay for. Do your homework on prices and wages before you go.

Housing - Oh my gosh, we have lived in many Countries, but NZ has to have the worst housing in the world. It's just like living in a shed at the bottom of your garden. No heating, no insulation and no double glazing and for this you can pay $350 A WEEK, yes we did. I am not exagerating here, most of the garages in the UK are better heated and insulated than the houses in NZ. The 1st house we rented was only 7 years old, no heating whatsoever, little insulation and no double glazing. Double glazing has only just been introduced as a requirement for new builds this year, so houses pre 2009 do not have double glazing and houses are cold! Mould is common place in 90% of all houses because the condensation is incredible. You will need to run a dehumidifier constantly and we bought oil filled raditators for heat because they were the cheapest source of heating if there is no wood burner and our electricty bill for ONE MONTH was $400!

Cars & Insurance - Vehicles are expensive compared to the UK. A car which is 10 years old in the UK can be picked up for under 1000 pounds, the same car in NZ will cost you $5,000 and the mileage will be extremely high. You need a WOF, (warrant of fitness, which is the equivalent of an MOT) every 6 months at a cost of $55 each time. Car insurance is not mandatory, you don't have to have it and many people don't. If you do get it, it will cost you around $365 per year if you have full no claims bonuses, but take a letter of experience with you from your home Country or you won't get them.

Telephones, Internet and TV - Cell phones, not a lot of competition here. You have Telecom and Voadafone, both are expensive and sim cards will cost you approximately $35 to buy and then another $20 for the minutes. Most people in NZ text as it is cheaper. Landlines, Telecom charges 45 cents per minute for long distance calls within NZ, shudder to think what the per minute rates for overseas were. I never used them I used a VOIP program on the internet for all my calls and texts which was next to nothing. TV, if you don't have Sky you get about 6 channels, same as Freeview, you pay $350 for a freeview box and only get about 6 channels, what a rip off. I couldn't believe the price of the Freeview boxes, especially as UK Freeview boxes can be picked up for 25 quid. Internet, not cheap. I paid $80 month for my internet, you can get slightly cheaper packages, but it's still too expensive. Mostly DSL, only get cable internet in the bigger cities.

Utilities - Check out the real cost of electricity, gas, telephone, tv, internet before you go because none of these are cheap.

Crime - Considering there are only 4 million people in NZ, the crime rate is horrendous for such a small amount of people. Police are understaffed and crime is abundant. Petty crime is rife and you just don't realize how much crime there is until you live there. Even my friend who is a NZ Police Officer admits the crime rate is extremely high and I myself am an ex Canadian Police Officer and I know what high crime rates are. Many criminals get away with things because the Police don't have the manpower. Boy racers are all over the place too. Kids who race their cars up and down residential streets.

Weather - It depends on if you like rain or not. Maybe we were unlucky, but it seemed to rain constantly during the 11 months we were there. We had a few sunny days, nothing too hot, but the summer was nothing to rave about.

People seem to think that NZ is the land of milk and honey. Nowhere on this earth is there anywhere like that. Having lived in many different Countries there are problems with every Country in the world, good points and bad everywhere you go. People leave their homeland because they think they will get a better life somewhere else. Well, it doesn't matter where you live really, life is what you make of it. You can't change a Country, you have to live with whatever you get. NZ for us had more bad points than good, that is why we left, but for you it will probably be completely different. Heavens knows we certainly did not go for the money. We went because we heard stories of a better life and more freedom etc. It didn't work out for us, my husband's job was not what they said it would be and he was incredibly unhappy.

They often say "home is where the heart is" and this could not be more true. My heart is in the UK and for all it's faults, it's my 'home' and we will be returning there after hubby has finished his work here in Canada.

For anyone who is thinking of moving out of their own Country, please do lots of research before you go anywhere. It is so easy to be starry eyed because living in another Country sounds romantic. When you actually have to live there, it becomes a different story completely. I wish I could take all the good little bits of every Country I have lived in and make a whole Country out of them, but of course we can't do that. Just remember, the grass is not always greener on the other side. Statistics in NZ show that 1,000 people EVERY WEEK leave NZ to go to another Country and may people who do immigrate there from the UK, end up going back."

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Tourists Robbed At Kerosene Creek

A group of four "international tourists" have been attacked and robbed whilst swimming at Kerosene Creek, near Taupo on Monday night. Their car and a number of possessions were taken during an attack which has left them deeply shaken.

Information as to the tourists' nationality or country of origin seems to have been withheld from the press for the time being, no doubt to reduce the amount of exposure the story gets? (it's already appeared on sites around the world)  but the attack does bear similarities to the attack on a group of Chinese tourists in Te Paki, Northland, which leaves us thinking that this may have been a group of Chinese people too.

Local wary of parking at Kerosene Creek
Those interested in such things may like to familiarise themselves with the findings of a 2009 Safety Perception Survey carried out for Rotorua District Council. 400 local residents were questioned about their perceptions of safety in the area.

63.0% of respondents felt there are unsafe places to park a vehicle in...areas around Rotorua, an increase year on year - 61.5% in 2008, 67.1% in 2007 and 54.3% in 2006. Of those, the most common mentions included:

• Blue/Green Lakes (Tikitapu/Rotokakahi) and Okere Falls (62 responses each)

• The Redwood Forest car park (61 responses)

• Kerosene Creek (37 responses)

• Waipa (26 responses)

The locals obviously know where the unsafe places are but is this information being passed on to tourists?

One can only speculate if it was a copycat crime, but what is rather disturbing that the high profile arrest and punishment of the Northland offenders seems to have had no deterrent effect whatsoever, attacks on unwary tourists are still occurring in New Zealand, and if anything, seem to be more frequent.


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