Refugee emphasis changes

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32700, 1 September 1971, Page 19

Refugee emphasis changes

Seventy-seven refugees were resettled in New Zealand in the last year by the National Council of Churches in New Zealand, the organisation said in its annual report.

Of these the most had been Czechoslovakians. In 1968 more than 100 Czechs entered the country. Provision was made in 1969 for the entry of 100 more Czechs refugees, but stabilising conditions caused only 32 to arrive in New Zealand. The resettlement assistant for the National Council of Churches( Miss B. E. Smith) said that most of the rest came from Indonesia, Hong Kong and India. The number from the continent was continuously decreasing as the areas of refugee need were shifting, although members were still coming from Hungary, Jugoslavia and East Germany. The most successful adapters to the New Zealand way of life were the Chinese and Continentals, she said. The National Council of Churches had to work thought the International Social Service before the Government would approve the intake of refugees under church sponsorship. The Department of Labour would only allow refugees into the country on the condition that local chtfrch sponsorship

could be guaranteed in every case and the refugees would be supported until they were earning a satisfactory wage. The World Council of Churches advanced a loan to meet the costs of transport to New Zealand.

The kind of refugees New Zealand was able to settle easily was declining. Many refugees chose to go to countries they knew more about —such as the United States. Many had not heard of New Zealand and many were of a culture that could not easily be absorbed, said Miss Smith.