Editorial: Let's take refugees in Tauranga

Allowing Syrian refugees into New Zealand is a contentious issue - although on first glance it may not seem to be.

In the news media and on social media few dare express their concerns about welcoming these people into the country for fear of being labelled heartless or racist.

As humans, the vast majority of us see the shocking scenes of refugees desperate to escape and want to help and, as I wrote earlier this week, I'm glad the Government has agreed to do something.

But as reporter Rod Vaughan points out in today's paper, there are those who fear we will end up with refugees so accustomed to war and violence they may struggle to adapt to life in New Zealand, or that we may unwittingly allow in members of Islamic State posing as refugees.

They are valid concerns and there is a slight risk of both of those things occurring, but it's minimal and worth taking the chance to help some of those innocent people who desperately want a better life for their families.

As New Zealand Red Cross national programme development manager Rachel O'Connor points out, "Ones that come here have first to be recognised as a refugee by the UN after which New Zealand Immigration go over there and do further screening before accepting them."

I agree with her that we can trust the systems to minimise the risk. That same risk exists when granting asylum to refugees from other countries and issuing visas to migrants or visitors.

Are we to stop allowing any foreigners to come to New Zealand for fear they could be terrorists?

Furthermore, there's no guarantee a Kiwi will not decide to become a member of Islamic State or some other terrorist group. It's happened elsewhere.

As for concerns about refugees accustomed to war and violence struggling to adapt to life here, that is where settlement support services come in.

We cannot put refugees from any country on a plane, fly them to New Zealand and leave them to their own devices.

They need support to find housing, learn the language and the customs, find work, make friends and maybe even get some counselling.

It must be a huge adjustment for many of them but with the right support they can learn to fit in and make the most of life here.

Those issues aside, New Zealand could benefit from having the extra refugees.

We are an increasingly multicultural nation and that only expands our world view and knowledge of other cultures.

We could all do well to take the time to talk to migrants and refugees and learn more about where they came from and their customs.

Some of my closest friends moved to the country with their families when they were young. While they are Kiwis through and through now, I have enjoyed learning more about where they came from and have had the privilege to learn about and take part in some of their traditions.

New Zealand's five resettlement locations in Mangere, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Wellington and Nelson will come under pressure when the extra 600 refugees start to arrive so support services may need to be set up elsewhere.

Why not Tauranga?

We already have an active migrant community supported by the Tauranga Regional Multicultural Council and the number of foreign-born residents in the Bay has more than doubled from about 14,000 in 1996 to nearly 29,000 in 2013.

We, too, could benefit from getting to know these people and helping them start new lives away from the horror taking place in their own country.

Our city is growing and the number of jobs available is steadily increasing.

We have plenty of land to expand and a huge number of kind, welcoming people who would not hesitate to volunteer their time to help refugees settle in.

It would be a privilege to welcome refugees from Syria and other parts of the world to live in the Bay and enjoy the beautiful city we love to live in.