N.Z. will take 600 refugees

Press, 5 December 1978, Page 1

N.Z. will take 600 refugees

PA Wellington New Zealand would accept up to 600 Indo-Asian refugees, mainly Vietnamese, next year, said the Minister of Immigration (Mr Gill) yesterday. 'The Cabinet had aproved a scheme by which the Government would resettle groups of up to 100 refugees a month. The first group was likely to arrive in April, Mr Gill said. In addition, the Cabinet yesterday gave approval for the Labour Department to pay fares of sponsored refugees who have friends or relatives in New Zealand and who are in camps other than those visited by

New Zealand selection teams. Mr Gill said the decision to accept the refugees was in response to a request from the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees. Selection would be made by teams of two senior immigration officers who would visit camps in Malaysia and Thailand. The inland camps of . Thailand housed a number of Cambodian and Laotian refugees as well as Vietnamese, Mr Gill said. The criteria for accepting the refugees were that there were generally not more than four dependent children under 18 to a , family, that the “bread winner” was not more than 45 years old, and that he have an occupation background adaptable to New Zealand circumstances. The Immigration Division would co-ordinate a resettlement programme in close liaison with the InterChurch Commission on Immigration and other Government departments. “The 1.C.C.1. will greatly assist the resettlement programme by helping to introduce and match sponsors ,to the requirements of the refugees for housing and employment,” Mr Gill said.