No dole for refugees

Press, 11 August 1979, Page 6

No dole for refugees

Refugees from Indo-China who are unable to find work when they arrive in New Zealand will have to wait a year before they are allowed to receive any unemployment benefit, even though they are classified as permanent residents. The only new arrivals eligible for the benefit are those from Britain and Australia, because New Zealand has reciprocal agreements with these two countries, says the director of the Christchurch office of the Social Welfare Department (Mr C. L. Waters). Mr Waters was com-

menting on a report in “The Press” on August 8 which said that Indo-Chinese refugees were entitled to the benefit because they were permanent residents. He said that all new arrivals other than those from Britain and Australia had to be continuously resident in New Zealand for 12 months before being eligible, for the benefit, then had to satisfy the usual requirements such as availability for work. However, the Social Security Commission would consider applications from refugees on the ground of hardship for emergency benefit in terms of section 61 of the Social Security Act, "but the circumstances

of the sponsorship and of the whole refugee family group would need to be taken into account when deciding eligibility.” “While the department will pay the emergency benefit to refugees undergoing ‘reorientation’ at the Mangere reception centre (at Auckland), the refugees are primarily the responsibility of their sponsors on leaving the centre, as are those who do not pass through the centre but arrive in Christchurch direct. “The family benefit is paid to the parents or guardian of dependent children from the date of arrival in New Zealand,” said Mr Waters.