October 7 attacks anniversary: Heightened calls for NZ to do more for Palestinian refugees – The Front Page

Palestinians in Gaza are unable to obtain many vital necessities, including basic food supplies, amid ongoing hostilities with Israel. Photo / Getty Images

More than 40,000 lives lost. About 1.9 million people displaced, half of them children.

It’s been a year since the terrorist group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel – sparking the deadliest conflict in the Gaza region for decades.

Aid organisations have consistently warned of the humanitarian crisis on the ground. They don’t have enough access to water, food, fuel, and medicine.

Homes have been destroyed and families torn apart.

World Vision New Zealand’s head of advocacy and justice, Rebekah Armstrong, told The Front Page it is a catastrophic humanitarian disaster.

“We’re calling for the New Zealand Government to issue humanitarian visas to help people in Palestine with family members in New Zealand to be able to come here,” she said.

In response to the call for an urgent visa – one made by more than 30 organisations – Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has said: “The Government decides on changes to immigration policy settings.

“Where New Zealand has previously created new visa pathways for certain conflicts, these have been in response to specific and different circumstances.

“Afghanistan was a situation where unique circumstances required a targeted approach as Afghan nationals were at risk of harm due to their previous work and connections with the New Zealand Defence Force and other agencies in Afghanistan.

“Ukraine was an unusual situation given the fact that the UNHCR [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] was unable to refer people from Ukraine to New Zealand through INZ’s refugee quota, which meant there were limited pathways for Ukrainian refugees.”

Armstrong disagrees and says the situation in Gaza is unprecedented.

“This situation is unique because of the degree of that humanitarian catastrophe. There are just so many people unable to leave right now that are in desperate situations. There’s going to need to be years of rebuilding and restoring.

“The numbers of people that have been killed, the number of people that are sick, the number of people that are injured, the 16,000 children who have been killed.

“It’s a situation that needs some urgent attention and needs the Government to step in because of the unprecedented levels of suffering that are taking place there,” she said.

World Vision says 16,000 children have been killed in Gaza during the Israeli-Hamas conflict. Photo / Getty Images

The main way New Zealand offers support for international refugee situations is through the Refugee Quota, with an annual quota of 1500 people.

Refugees accepted through the quota are referred to Immigration by the UNHCR.

Since October 7 last year, Immigration NZ has received:

• 762 applications from Israeli nationals across both temporary and residence visa applications. Of those received, 609 have been approved, 25 declined and the remainder are either in progress or have been withdrawn.
• 178 applications from Palestinian passport holders across both temporary and residence visa applications. Of those received, 111 have been approved, 33 declined and the remainder are either in progress or have been withdrawn.
• Of the approved applications, 192 Israeli nationals and 35 Palestinians have arrived onshore. These include all visa types.

Armstrong said New Zealand’s Palestinian community this year estimated the number of people with ties to the country would be roughly 300 to 400 people.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about what New Zealand can do to help.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the NZ Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

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