IT’S TIME FOR NEW ZEALAND TO
DOUBLE THE QUOTA
Yazidi family who fled
conflict in Mount Sinjar.
© Amnesty International
Refugees are ordinary people who have survived extraordinary circumstances. They are
somebody’s mum or dad, brother or sister, aunt or uncle. Every single one has stories of loved ones
left behind, of childhoods lost, of a future destroyed. All are asking for the chance for a fresh start –
for a safe place to call home to rebuild shattered lives.
Refugees and asylum seekers don’t have a choice about where they end up – they are simply
running for their lives. The 750 who are settled in New Zealand each year are the lucky few.
New Zealand has been formally accepting refugees since before World War II, welcoming 1100
Jewish refugees during the 1930s. In 1944 we accepted 800 Polish people, 734 of whom were
orphaned children.
New Zealand signed the United Nations Refugee Convention in 1960. The Convention defines
who is a refugee and sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum as well as the
responsibilities of nations that grant asylum.
Here in New Zealand we have a strong history of protecting human rights. We have a very good
refugee resettlement programme, but we lag far behind other countries in the number of refugees
we resettle.
New Zealand also has a focus on refugees in special need of protection such as women at risk,
people with disabilities or needing medical attention. It set a refugee quota of 800 annually in
1987, but this was reduced to 750 ten years later.
The 750 refugee places make a life-changing difference to every single person New Zealand grants
refugee status to. However, it is a number that has not been raised in nearly 30 years and needs to
be increased.
When compared with the rest of the world, it means that New Zealand ranks at 90th in the world
per capita, and if you take our wealth into account we drop to an embarrassing 116th in the world.
That’s a record none of us can be proud of.
#DoubleTheQuota: facts about the refugee crisis
There are 59.5 million people forcibly
displaced right now. If this were a country, it
would be the 24th largest in the world.
Twice as many people died in
the Mediterranean last year than
died on the Titanic.
More than half the refugees in 2014
came from just three countries:
Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia.
Children (below age
18) were a majority
of the refugee
population. Child
refugees are at the
highest number
in more than a
decade.
(source: UNHCR)
42,500 people are forced to leave their homes
each day due to conflict and persecution. This is
a 4-fold increase over the past four years.
Only 126,800 refugees returned to
their home country in 2014. This is the
lowest level since 1983.
38.2 million people have been relocated within
their home country, 19.5 million are external
refugees, and 1.8 million are asylum seekers.
This is the largest humanitarian crisis of our lifetime, and
complacency is not an option. As New Zealand reviews its refugee
quota numbers, we will be urging the government to double its
annual refugee quota from 750 people to 1500.
This campaign is being done in unison with our international NGO
partners and service providers for refugees across New Zealand. To
get more information or become more involved in this work, please
visit www.amnesty.org.nz or email [email protected]
How does New Zealand compare on refugee assistance?
• New Zealand ranks 90th in the world in per capita assistance
to refugees.
• Lebanon, a country with the same population as New Zealand,
is currently hosting 1 million refugees. That’s 232 refugees
for every 1000 people living there.
• Australia takes five times more refugees and asylum seekers
per capita than New Zealand. Their quota is three and a half
times higher than ours.
• Our annual refugee quota of 750 people hasn’t been raised
since it was set nearly 30 years ago.
• There are about 300 people per year who come to NZ on a
refugee family reunification visa, but these people do not
receive any government assistance or programme support.
©Amnesty International
Our work at a glance
Amnesty International is global movement of over 7 million individuals who protect human dignity and
defend human rights. We are united in the belief that justice, freedom and dignity should be the reality for all. For
the past 50 years in New Zealand, we’ve worked tirelessly to expand human rights awareness. We are independent
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