Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia

Media Release – June 13 2016

Lean quota rise shames New Zealand
 

The Anglican Archbishop of New Zealand says the country remains on the wrong side of the ledger when it comes to accepting refugees.

Archbishop Philip Richardson says the Government’s announcement that adds 250 refugee places to our annual quota fails to show New Zealand acting as a responsible global citizen.

He welcomes the news that 250 more people will be offered refuge in this country, and that 600 Syrian refugees have come via the emergency intake, but says those increases are shameful on the world stage.

“In the past five years, there has been a 76 percent increase in people displaced due to war and persecution: from 34 million to 60 million people.” he said.

“Although the stories of terror play out far from our shores, we need to respond as global neighbours and step up to offer as much as we can.” 

“I believe we are a compassionate and a caring country, but in the face of the current crisis, this increase almost says the opposite."

New Zealand lags well behind comparably-sized countries like Ireland, says Archbishop Philip.

With less than a third of New Zealand’s land area, and a slightly higher GDP per capita, Ireland has taken in four times our national refugee quota since 1976.

In a submission on the refugee quota presented to government earlier this year, the Anglican Church offered to raise its national commitment to supporting refugees and contribute more resources to enable larger intakes.