Migration Trends & Outlook 2008/09
8 INTERNATIONAL/HUMANITARIAN STREAM
Highlights
- International/Humanitarian Stream approvals (3,504) accounted for 8 percent of all New Zealand Residence Programme (NZRP) approvals in 2008/09.
- The proportion of approvals in the Refugee Quota programme increased under the Refugee Protection Policy, but decreased under most other policies in the programme.
- Myanmar was the largest source country of Refugee Quota programme approvals in 2008/09 (24 percent).
- In 2008/09, 1,122 people were approved for residence through the Samoan Quota.
8.1 Introduction
The International/Humanitarian Stream includes Refugee Policy, the Samoan Quota, the Pacific Access Category (PAC), and other miscellaneous policies.
In 2008/09, 3,504 people were approved for residence through the International/Humanitarian Stream, compared with 4,138 in 2007/08 (see Table 8.1). These approvals represented 8 percent of all residence (NZRP) approvals in 2008/09, down slightly from 9 percent in 2007/08.
| International / Humanitarian Stream |
2007/08 | 2008/09 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| Total | 4,138 | 100% | 3,504 | 100% |
| Samoa Quota | 1,202 | 29% | 1,122 | 32% |
| Refugee Policy | 1008 | 24% | 964 | 28% |
| Pacific Access Category (PAC) | *1,117 | 27% | 360 | 10% |
| Special Samoan Quota Policy and Special PAC Places Policy$ | N/A | N/A | 280 | 8% |
| Other | 811 | 20% | 778 | 22% |
* The 1,117 included 578 approvals under the Residual PAC Places Policy.
$ These two special policies were effective from 8 December 2008.
Source: Department of Labour
In 2008/09, the International/Humanitarian Stream entrants came from 73 different countries. Samoa was the largest source country (1,193 people), followed by Tonga (273 people), and Fiji (210 people). Figure 8.1 shows the top five source countries for International/Humanitarian Stream approvals from 2006/07 to 2008/09.[93]
Figure 8. 1 International/Humanitarian Stream approvals by source country, 2006/07–2008/09
Source: Department of Labour
8.2 Refugee Policy approvals
New Zealand provides assistance to two categories of refugee:
- Quota refugees - people determined as being refugees by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) before they arrive in New Zealand.[94]
- Convention refugees - people given refugee status by the New Zealand Government under the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.[95]
In 2008/09, the Department of Labour issued a general instruction for Immigration New Zealand to continue prioritising applications through the Refugee Policy over other categories in the International/Humanitarian Stream. The priority policy included people under the Refugee Quota programme and successful refugee status claimants.
8.2.1 Refugee Quota programme
Quota refugees may be granted residence permits on arrival in New Zealand. The number of places available for Quota refugees under the Refugee Quota programme currently is 750 people per year. In 2008/09, 757 people were granted residence through the Refugee Quota programme, compared with 795 in 2007/08. Table 8.2 shows the number of refugees granted residence under the Refugee Quota programme between 2007/08 and 2008/09. The proportion of residence approvals under the Refugee Protection Policy increased from 52 percent in 2007/08 to 71 percent in 2008/09. Other refugee policies in the programme decreased, except the Refugee Emergency Policy, which remained unchanged.
| Refugee Quota programme | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| Total | 795 | 100% | 757 | 100% |
| Refugee Protection Policy | 416 | 52% | 541 | 71% |
| Refugee Women at Risk Policy | 184 | 23% | 101 | 13% |
| Refugee Family Policy | 136 | 17% | 92 | 12% |
| Refugee Medical Policy | ... | 7% | ... | 3% |
| Refugee Emergency Policy | ... | < 1% | ... | < 1% |
... Very small numbers have been suppressed
Source: Department of Labour
In the past 5 years, 3,806 people from 43 different countries have been approved for residence through the Refugee Quota programme. The largest source country in this time was Myanmar (1,065 people), followed by Afghanistan (598 people), Iraq (383 people), and Bhutan (313 people).[96]
Figure 8.2 shows that Myanmar remained the largest source country of Refugee Quota programme approvals in 2008/09, although the proportion of approvals decreased from 2006/07 to 2008/09. Bhutan was the second-largest source country, with 163 people in 2008/09, followed by Iraq (132 people).
Figure 8. 2 Refugee Quota programme approvals by source country, 2006/07–2008/09
Source: Department of Labour
8.2.2 Successful refugee status claimants
As well as being committed to accepting an annual quota of refugees, New Zealand is committed to considering all claims from asylum seekers who seek refugee status as Convention refugees in New Zealand.
From 1997/98 to 2008/09, 2,928 people successfully claimed refugee status as Convention refugees. Of these, 72 people successfully claimed for refugee status as Convention refugees in 2008/09, compared with 81 in 2007/08. The number of successful Convention refugees has decreased because the number of people claiming refugee status has fallen steadily since 2001/02 (see Figure 8.3).
Figure 8. 3 Number of people claiming asylum and successful claims, 1997/98–2008/09
Note: The year a claim for asylum was made and the year the claim was decided may be different.
Source: Department of Labour
8.2.3 Successful refugee status claimants granted residence
Permanent residence is approved separately from claiming refugee status. In 2008/09, 207 successful refugee status claimants (Convention refugees) were approved for residence, compared with 213 in 2007/08 and 191 in 2006/07.
In 2008/09, the successful refugee status claimants approved for residence came from 25 different countries. The main source countries were Iraq (49 people) and China (43 people). Residence approvals from Iraq and China have increased steadily over the last 3 years (see Figure 8.4).
Figure 8. 4 Successful refugee status claimants granted residence, 2006/07–2008/09
Source: Department of Labour
8.3 Samoan Quota and Pacific Access Category approvals
The Samoan Quota was formally established in 1970. The quota is based on the spirit of close friendship embodied in the 1962 Treaty of Friendship between New Zealand and Samoa. The quota allows up to 1,100 Samoans, including their partners and dependent children, to be granted residence in New Zealand each year.
In 2008/09, 1,122 people were approved for residence through the Samoan Quota, compared with 1,202 in 2007/08 and 1,106 in 2006/07.
The Pacific Access Category (PAC) was established in July 2002 for Pacific countries with which New Zealand has close cultural and historical ties. The current PAC allows up to 250 citizens of Tonga, 75 citizens of Tuvalu, and 75 citizens of Kiribati, including their partners and dependent children, to be granted residence in New Zealand each year.[97]
In 2008/09, 360 people were approved for residence through the PAC, compared with 1,117[98] in 2007/08. Table 8.3 details the number of people approved for residence through the PAC in 2008/09.
| Pacific Access Category | Number of people |
|---|---|
| Total | 360 |
| Tonga | 152 |
| Kiribati | 99 |
| Tuvalu | 75 |
| Fiji | 34 |
Notes:
1. Some people in the Pacific Access Category are approved for residence in a different year from the year their name is electronically randomly drawn from the pool of registrations by Immigration New Zealand. This table includes people who were successful in the 2008 electronic draw, as well as some who were successful in earlier electronic draws.
2. Fiji has been suspended from participating in the PAC since 2 April 2007. However, applications were made before this date are still valid and being processed.
Source: Department of Labour
8.4 Special Samoan Quota Places Policy and Special Pacific Access Category Places Policy approvals
Some Samoan citizens who made an application for residence under the Residual Samoan Quota Places Policy were granted residence under the Special Samoan Quota Places Policy if their application had not been decided by 7 December 2008.
Similarly, some citizens of Tonga, Tuvalu, Kiribati, or Fiji who made an application for residence under the Residual Pacific Access Category Places Policy were granted residence under the Special Pacific Access Category Places Policy if their application had not been decided by 7 December 2008.
In 2008/09, 280 people were approved for permanent residence through these two special policies. Fiji was the largest source country (147 people), followed by Tonga (55 people), and Samoa (31 people) (see Table 8.4).
| Source country | Number of people |
|---|---|
| Total | 280 |
| Fiji | 147 |
| Tonga | 55 |
| Samoa | 31 |
| Tuvalu | 26 |
| Kiribati | 18 |
| United States* | 3 |
* Only principal applicants must be citizens of Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu, or Kiribati. Their partners and dependent children do not have to meet this requirement.
Source: Department of Labour
8.5 Other International/Humanitarian approvals
In 2008/09, 778 people were approved for residence through other special policies in the International/Humanitarian Stream, compared with 811 in 2007/08. Of these, most residence approvals (56 percent) were through the Ministerial Direction Policy, followed by the Refugee Family Support Category (23 percent).
Table 8.5 compares residence approvals through other special policies between 2007/08 and 2008/09.
| Other special policies* | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| Total | 811 | 100% | 778 | 100% |
| Ministerial Direction Policy | 375 | 46% | 436 | 56% |
| Refugee Family Support Category$ | 210 | 26% | 177 | 23% |
| Section 35A | 35 | 4% | 141 | 18% |
| Residence policy for victims of domestic violence | 20 | 2% | 15 | 2% |
| Special Zimbabwe Residence Policy† | 167 | 21% | 8 | 1% |
| October 2000 Transitional Policy¥ | 4 | < 1% | 1 | < 1% |
* The definition of each special policy is provided in Table C4, Appendix C.
$ The Refugee Family Support Category was formerly called the Refugee Family Quota.
† The closing date for applications under the Special Zimbabwe Residence Policy was 28 February 2007.
¥ The October 2000 Transitional Policy is now closed.
Source: Department of Labour
[93] Appendix S shows the number of people from the top source countries approved for residence through the International/Humanitarian Stream between 2006/07 and 2008/09.
[94] The Government sets the number of places available for quota refugees under the Refugee Quota programme (currently 750 people per year).
[95] New Zealand acceded to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1960 and to the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1973.
[96] Appendix T shows the number of people from all source countries approved for residence through the Refugee Quota programme from 2004/05 to 2008/09.
[97] Fiji has been removed from eligibility for the PAC since 2 April 2007. However, applications were made before this date are still valid and being processed.
[98] The 1,117 people included 578 approved through the Residual Pacific Access Category Places Policy.
