FIFTY DUTCH MIGRANTS FROM INDONESIA ARRIVE IN N.Z.

Grey River Argus, 12 November 1949, Page 4

FIFTY DUTCH MIGRANTS FROM INDONESIA ARRIVE IN N.Z.

P.A. AUCKLAND, November 11. Fifty former members of the Royal Dutch Army and Navy, many of whom a few months ago were actively engaged in war in Indonesia, arrived at Whenuapai this afternoon to take up farming occupations in New Zealand. The immigrants are all single men, between the ages of 22 and 24. They travelled from Batavia via Australia in the Skymaster “Aalsmeer”, the first, aircraft of the world-famous K.L.M. Royal Dutch Airlines to land in New Zealand. .They were taken by bus to .the Labour and Employment Department’s industrial canrn at Waikaraka Park, Onehunga, from where they will be posted to farms throughout the country For the most part strapping young men, specially selected for military service because of their capacity to resist the rigors of life in Indonesia, the immigrants are likely to prove valuable recruits for New Zealand’s drive for increased production. They were all interviewed by Mr J. H. Flowers, of the Department of Labour and Immigration, and were medically examined by Dr M. Williams ,oi' Wellington, before coming to tlie Dominion. Of the draft, 21 served as sailors or marines of the Royal Dutch Navy. The ex-soldiers were members of tlie 7th Derember Division of the Royal Dutch Army, which began demobilisation in May. Most of the division have been repatriated to Holland, but those who wanted to migrate to New Zealand were retained in the army until transport could be arranged for them. The Aalsmeer was chartered at the expense of the Dutch Government. The men will be allocated by the Department, after consultation with the Federated Farmers, to farmers who have made application for them. They are under an obligation to stay with their first employer for six months, and to remain in the farming industry for a minimum of two years. Only a few of the new arrivals can speak English with any degree of fluency.