The first refugees to come to New Zealand after spending years in offshore Australian detention camps have arrived in the country.
The group of six refugees landed in Auckland on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Michael Wood told Stuff News the Australian and New Zealand Governments were continuing to work together “to resettle 150 refugees annually from Australia’s existing regional processing cohort”.
In March, an agreement was made between the two countries to resettle 150 refugees a year from Australia over the next 10 years.
Mustafa Derbashi of the Asylum Seeker Support Trust said the arrival was “very exciting news for us and for refugees in general”.
“We wish them to have a great experience as part of our whānau to find a great safe space.”
Derbashi said there were many other people waiting for a similar chance to be “treated as human beings”.
In 2013, Australia announced that no asylum seekers arriving by boat could settle in the country. Many of those arriving in Australia are fleeing persecution or violence.
New Zealand made an offer in 2013 to take some of the refugees. Past Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in 2018 that refugees could use New Zealand as a “back door” into Australia. However, the offer was accepted in March this year.
Journalist and human rights defender Behrouz Boochani, who was detained on Manus Island by Australia for six years after fleeing persecution in Iran, said the agreement was an international achievement for New Zealand.
“These refugees have been living in limbo, in very harsh conditions, in a very difficult situation for many years,” he said.
