N.Z. to take Assyrians
PA Wellington The Government has given approval for 25 families of Assyrian Christian refugees to come to New Zealand from refugee camps in Greece. The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, said it was essentially a humanitarian gesture on the part of New Zealand, although the refugees would have to conform to normal immigra-
tion and medical criteria. He said that individual refugees would be selected after personal interviews of each family by Government representative's. The Assyrians’ country had not existed since the seventh century, but they had preserved their national identity and today lived in Sart of Iraq, speaking Araic, Kurdish, or Farsi and retaining their Christianity,
Mr Palmer said. The group had been persecuted through history because of their religious beliefs and because they formed an ethnic minority. The immigration had been sought by an interchurch commission on immigration and settlement, which would sponsor the refugees’ travel, accommodation, and search for employment.
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Press, 29 May 1985, Page 28
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157N.Z. to take Assyrians Press, 29 May 1985, Page 28
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