Tough New Zealand Immigration Laws to Deter Mass Arrivals

Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key, and Immigration Minister Nathan Guy, have revealed new immigration laws to deter the illegal immigrants and human smugglers entering New Zealand.

The Prime Minister believes that new immigration laws will make the borders of the country safer and secure discouraging the human traffickers and asylum seekers entering the country in large groups.

The journey from Australia to New Zealand is a life threatening voyage and hardly no asylum seeker has been able to reach New Zealand in boat in spite of a number of attempts in the past. There was a recent incident of an attempt by Chinese asylum seekers who later abandoned their plans to travel to New Zealand in a boat and decided to try their luck in Australia.

Referring to the above incident, the New Zealand Immigration Minister, Nathan Guy, said, “The recent events in Darwin show that New Zealand is a target for dangerous and illegal mass arrivals by boat. We need to be prepared.  New law means Immigration New Zealand will be able to focus on managing immediate risks, rather than being tied up in paperwork and clogging up the courts. A mass arrival would likely include people whose identities are unknown or in doubt, so it is necessary to use detention to manage the security risks.”

Following are the three major changes in the immigration laws:

1. New Zealand immigration official will be able to detain a group of 11 and up to around 500 under a ‘group warrant’ without wasting time in issuing individual warrant.
2. The successful refugee claimants will be reassessed after three years of making their claim before their application for permanent residency will be allowed.
3. The successful asylum applicants who arrived in a large group will be able to sponsor only the immediate family members such as spouse and children. However, they will not be able to sponsor extended family members.

New Zealand Immigration Minister expect the new immigration laws to come into force by the end of the year.

Tags: Asylum Seeker, Australia, Immigration, immigration New Zealand, New Zealand, New Zealand Immigration, Refugee Claimants