Editorial: Migrants hear themselves debated

It cannot be much fun right now being a new New Zealander. They have chosen to leave a homeland to become part of this country, to bring up children and build a future here, but the atmosphere has suddenly soured. Again. In schools, on the street and in the workplace innocent individuals bear the fear and fury they hear vented by people they do not know and who do not know them. They bear it quietly, deeply, sorrowfully.

Somehow in the "debate" about immigration many people have lost sight of the individuals who are the immigrants. In Parliament, in print, on television and on radio, shots are being fired at a policy and a Government, but ricochets are hitting families, schoolchildren, small businesspeople and small communities.

Those caught in this are not only the ubiquitous "Asians". The hurt is also palpable among new New Zealanders from South Africa, the Middle East, Fiji, Europe and even Britain. Having sought out New Zealand, made the grade set by this and previous Governments and put down new roots (some with Kiwi spouses), they find there is a new threshold in justifying their existence here - justifying that extra car on Auckland's roads, the extra wear and tear on water, sewerage, schooling and housing.

Few New Zealanders who have been here for a generation or two can probably conceive what it is like being new, in a minority, and being further isolated in a deeply personal way by a strangely impersonal phenomenon.

Imagine making, with your family, children and perhaps grandchildren, a new life in London or Los Angeles after meeting the settlement criteria there. Language is not even an issue but you are a minority, new to the idiosyncrasies of the English or American way and physically and psychologically far from home. Suddenly immigration becomes a white hot issue, the very term "New Zealander" becomes slightly derisive. (It has happened, closer to home in Australia from time to time.) You probably keep your head down. But you also start asking what you, personally, have done wrong. Migrating might well have been by choice and, presumably a positive choice - perhaps to follow the American Dream.

We can safely assume that many of those who have migrated here in the past one, five or 10 years are here in pursuit of the New Zealand dream. The man from the Indian sub-continent delivering pamphlets in Remuera this week proudly wearing a black "New Zealand All Blacks" cap was walking evidence of that desire. Few immigrants want to take what is ours, to challenge the prevailing culture or to convert ordinary Kiwis to alien belief or practice.

Interestingly, some, including a letter-writer to this page today, share the public sentiment that too many people with too little preparation for successful assimilation have been lured and welcomed here by Government policy in too short a time.

And that is the point. The policy might be at fault; the people who have come here are not. It is important now that the immigration debate is not diverted to the imagined failings or burdens caused by those already here; that we do not look sideways at those around us or feel the need to overcompensate, as some are, in forcing a smile or a hello to lessen immigrants' unease. New New Zealanders should also be aware of cultural sensitivities and make an effort to adapt.

As a nation, there is a growing consensus that ad hoc immigration policies prone to political opportunism and with insufficient thought to successful integration need to be changed. English tests, provided they are not used crudely to control numbers, might be a valid starting point.

This country was founded on immigration and effective immigration policies are needed for economic growth. Today, and in the coming weeks, the Herald will highlight the real issues needing debate in immigration. We will present the facts and invite people to have their say - looking forward, not back.

Herald feature: Immigration