Afghan refugee family reunited

An Afghan refugee family separated for four years by Australia's hardline refugee policies have finally been reunited in New Zealand.

In emotional scenes at Auckland Airport on Saturday, Sayed Ali Sarwari was greeted by his wife Sediqa and 6-year-old daughter Sakina.

The family were separated four years ago when Mr Sarwari fled Afghanistan after his father was murdered.

He has been working as a swimming pool tiler in Melbourne.

But his family arrived after the Tampa row and were detained on Nauru while Australian authorities refused to admit them.

The New Zealand Government agreed to reunite the family and two other separated Afghan families.

Mrs Sarwari and Sakina arrived in New Zealand this month.

An Immigration Service spokesman said yesterday that the three families had been taken to the Mangere Reception Centre to undergo a six-week resettlement programme.

They were not available to speak to the media yesterday while they settled in.

"We want to make sure their health is okay and they aren't traumatised," he said.

- NZPA