Refugees unlikely to divert to New Zealand, says UN

11.45 am

More doubt has been cast on an Australian government minister's prediction that New Zealand will be targeted by people smugglers due to the two countries' different policies on refugees.

Australian Immigration Minister Phillip Ruddock warned yesterday that New Zealand's granting of refugee visas to asylum seekers rejected by Australia could lead to it being seen as a desirable location.

He said he had advice suggesting people smugglers were talking more about New Zealand after it granted refugee status to all but one of the 131 Tampa asylum seekers Australia refused to take. The person who was not approved is still being processed.

But the regional representative of the United Nation's High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Raymond Hall, said today that while Australia's "draconian" policy may hold up some refugees arriving in Australia, he doubted they would make the long detour to this country.

"I don't think at the moment there is any evidence of that ... (there's) a possibility. New Zealand is an awful long way to travel," Mr Hall told National Radio.

"I don't think Indonesia has many of the sophisticated boats that you might get operating on the Mediterranean and Europe for example. But I think it would be very difficult for people to make that very long journey to New Zealand."

Feature: Immigration