Swedes want to come to N.Z.

Press, 10 January 1987, Page 32

Swedes want to come to N.Z.

By

ROSS BROWN

on Oslo

About 3000 Swedes would like to emigrate to New Zealand, according to the Swedish daily newspaper, “Svenska Dagbladet.” The paper learned in an interview with Mr John Hastilow, of the New Zealand Embassy in The Hague, that normally only 100 Swedes a year seek information on migration to New Zealand. "One reason given (for the huge increase) last year was the unusually hard winter in Sweden in 1985-86,” said Mr Hastilow. “The bulk of inquiries came after the Chernobyl accident.” Already, 300 Swedes have been accepted for immigration by the N.Z. authorities, having satisfied them as to suitability and arranged employment. Among these are Per and Lena Enholmer and their two children who

will soon travel to Wellington. Members of Greenpeace, they were distressed by Chernobyl’s dumping of high levels of radioactivity on Swedish Lapland. “We are also seriously concerned that environmental catastrophes are turning Europe into a sewer,” they told the newspaper. Mr Hastilow said many more Swedes may look for employment possibilities in New Zeland during their summer holidays. New Zealand’s reputation has been enhanced by the “no” to nuclear power and nuclear weapons, wrote “Svenska Dagbladet,” while the country was also isolated from the large industrial nations.

In Stockholm, the Australian Embassy said that, contrary to expectations, there had been no increase in the numbers of applicants for immigration to Australia. .