Refugee Support Programme Ends With No Clear Future
Twenty-eight groups and businesses have sponsored almost 200 refugees in a three-year trial.
The Community Organisation Refugee Sponsorship (CORS) programme helps newcomers secure rentals, enrol at schools and doctors, find jobs and make connections locally.
Criteria include refugees being aged 18-45, understanding basic English and having either work skills or a tertiary education. Refugees can be nominated by sponsors or referred by the UNHCR.
Associate Immigration Minister Casey Costello is awaiting a report analysing the scheme's outcomes, and said approved CORS refugees were still arriving.
"I have a lot of faith in that process, I think it is a very good programme, but we still need to await that review and determine what that will look like into the future," she told MPs at a recent scrutiny committee meeting.
"I personally am a significant supporter of the programme, I think it's been a highly successful model. It is, I think, an excellent way of engaging with community directly we've seen some very good success models up in Whangārei, it was a real wraparound engagement."
But MPs were concerned that there could be a hiatus after the trial, putting its progress at risk, because there was no specific budget allocation.
Costello said Cabinet would have to decide whether it continued at all, and also if it could be funded from existing funds or needed to wait for a budget application next year.
"I think it is an excellent programme and I would love to see it continue, again those decisions would have to be made by Cabinet."
'This programme can save lives'
Community group Multicultural Whangārei sponsored Nimo Ahmed to become the first refugee in the pilot programme.
She escaped war-torn Somalia in 2017 and got to Indonesia, where she worked as a volunteer interpreter and teacher for the Church World Service. In 2018, she founded The Sisterhood Foundation, a refugee-led organisation advocating for the rights of women and girls.
Ahmed arrived in Whangārei in 2023 as a sponsored refugee. ON Tuesday, INZ announced she had been appointed to its refugee advisory panel.
"Although Whangārei had no refugees before, I initially thought it might be difficult, because people wouldn't understand my background," she said. "Fortunately, they welcomed me for who I am and reassured me that, if I ever needed help, they were there for me.
"The Community Sponsorship Programme didn't isolate me or control my choices - it gave me a fresh start. I truly believe this programme can save lives.
"It can give girls and boys like me the chance to feel whole again - to be heard, to contribute and to chase our dreams."
Other countries - including Australia, the UK, Spain and Germany - have piloted or established community sponsorship programmes.
Immigration New Zealand contracted HOST International to oversee the pilot, which finished on Monday.
"Overall, a total of 193 sponsored refugees have been welcomed by 28 sponsor groups across 12 locations, and they are settling in well into their communities," said HOST chief executive Birgit Grafarend-Watungwa.
"There is strong interest from communities and existing sponsor groups in seeing the programme continue. We are now focusing our efforts on advocating for a permanent, complementary Community Refugee Sponsorship programme that will enable more refugees to reach safety and successfully rebuild their lives within our communities."
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