Rally calls on Key to increase refugee quota

Hundreds attended a rally in Auckland today calling for the Government to welcome significantly more refugees to New Zealand.

People descended on Aotea Square for the "Welcome 10,000 Now" demonstration, organised by the Refugees are Welcome Here collective.

Poets and musicians joined refugees and community leaders from Kurdistan, Syria, Palestine, Chile, Sudan, Arabia, Burma and Iraq at the 2pm event.

Unions and anti-poverty groups also attended the "carnival style" rally as a display of solidarity.

Rally attendee, Aucklander Laila Saber, arrived in New Zealand as a refugee from Kurdistan 20 years ago.

She brought her 9-year-old daughter Ashna to the rally to support welcoming more refugees into the country.

"John Key is spending more time and effort on trying to change the flag than reaching out to people who really need help," Saber said.

"There is no excuse for not having 10,000 refugees here. We really need to save them and too many children are dying.

"We have to open our borders. We are not doing nearly enough."

Rafia Kabir, originally of Burma, attending the protest at Aotea Square. Photo / Doug Sherring

Campbell Larsen from Grey Lynn believed New Zealand's response to the crisis was "tokenism".

"Initially I thought the global community would not respond well to the idea of taking in refugees but I was wrong," he said. "However, New Zealand's attitude has since been inadequate.

"I appreciate that resettling people is challenging but our hardline approach to welcoming such a small number of refugees is disappointing."

Prime Minister John Key announced two weeks ago New Zealand would accept 750 Syrian refugees over the next three years, including 600 in an emergency intake above the usual annual quota of 750.

The rally in Aotea Square. Photo / Daniel Hines

The cost of resettling the refugees is estimated at $49 million in addition to the current $58 million annual cost of resettlement programmes.

Key was criticised for his initial response to the crisis after he said New Zealand would not consider extra help until a review of the refugee quota in the middle of next year.

He later relented after public calls for New Zealand to do more and conceded the public response was a factor in his decision.

The Green Party wants to raise the country's quota to 1000. A number of groups, including the Catholic and Anglican churches, have said they could take in 1200 refugees across the country.