National Refugee Resettlement Forum

Mr Richard Towle, Regional Representative, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,

Mark Getchell, International Organisation of Migration

Honoured guests

New Zealand has a proud record of working with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees - a record that leads back to our leading role in setting up the United Nations in San Francisco on 26 June 1945.

As a signatory to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, New Zealand is one of only 17 countries worldwide that offer a permanent home to refugees in need of resettlement.

We have an annual quota of 750 refugees and last year 748 people were accepted for settlement - bringing the total to 3,800 over the past five years.
Many of today's guests will have either been members of these annual refugee quotas or have helped with their settlement.

In global terms these figures are small but they are not without significance. Hardly a week passes without the press - usually our community papers- running stories about how refugees are contributing to our society and forging ahead with building new lives in their new home. Sometimes these achievements make national news.

On 11 Septmber1973, Jorge Sandoval, then still a schoolboy, was arrested in front of his family by agents of the Pinochet regime. He was tortured, imprisoned and exiled. In November 1976, he arrived in Wellington as a political refugee. At the time he spoke no English and recalls "I didn't know anything about New Zealand. I didn't even know where it was." In 2006, Jorge became a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his contribution to cycling and sports promotion. This year his autobiography Surviving Pinochet was published and received national attention.

This month Dominion Post journalist, Maggie Tait, travelled to Phnom Penh with the assistance of the Asia New Zealand Foundation to interview Veng Sereyvuth a Senior Minister in the Cambodian Prime Minister's Office and former Minister of Tourism and Culture. Mr Veng was previously a taxi driver in Wellington where he arrived as a refugee in 1980. One of 4,661 refugees New Zealand accepted between 1979 and 1992. Mr Veng recalls, "I will remember for the rest of my life when I got off the plane I saw the green, the hills... The word that came to mind was heaven... We survived, we reached the western world, a civilised country ... we felt so much hope."

In Wellington, Mr Veng first achieved school qualifications and then went on to complete a degree at Victoria University --- all the time working in a number of jobs. In 1988 he returned to Cambodia to help in the reconstruction of his homeland.

These are just two examples of how refugees resettled in New Zealand have succeeded in building new lives and lent their talents to the improvement of life in New Zealand and, in Mr Veng's case, their home country. It is a famous observation that Einstein was a refugee. Refugees can change the world.

The events that drive refugees to our shores are not, to borrow the actuary's phrase, "acts of God"; they are acts of man. They are the tragic consequence of man's unending inhumanity to man. The Refugees that are driven to our shores are the victims of fire and sword, religious and political persecution, man-made famine and what we have all come to recognise as a contemporary euphemism for the unspeakable -- ethnic cleansing. The United Nations estimates that 40 million people have been uprooted by violence and persecution. Five times the population of New York City.

And it is by the acts of man that we can help heal these wounds. New lives can be salvaged from this avalanche of human misery. Since 1979 New Zealand has welcomed just over 20,000 refugees from over 50 different countries and provided them with a new life here. It is a record that we have a right to be proud of. New Zealand intends to continue to honour its moral commitment to those stranded on the margins of the world's conscience.

Reflecting on his experiences as a former refugee in the "Talk to me" essay competition, a 17 year old Birkenhead College student wrote: "What I would love in my lifetime is too see countries like New Zealand that have a good heart, keep looking after those who cannot look after themselves. In that way, the earth will be a happy place to live."

That is a sentiment I am sure we can all share and it is particularly evident in the volunteer support provided refugees by Refugee Services Aotearoa New Zealand.

Refugee Services is a key component of the package of services provided to Quota refugees during their first 12 months residence here. Its national network of volunteers helps with access to housing and social services, English language tuition, education and work opportunities.

Finding work is fundamental to successful settlement and something that presents particular challenges for refugees. To address this Refugee Services has developed a unique Volunteer Support Worker programme. This is an NZQA-registered programme and the only national volunteer programme of its type in the world. It is regarded as a model of international best practice.

This is an inspiring example of how voluntary agencies can work within a broad government framework, to deliver better and more customised services.

Government has of course a role to play in establishing the framework within which such initiatives can take place. The New Zealand Settlement Strategy and National Settlement Action Plan provide a framework for government and volunteer agencies to work together.

A key component is the Settlement Support New Zealand initiative. As a result of the initiative there are now Settlement Support Officers located in 19 locations throughout the country. These officers work with local city councils and social agencies to ensure that settlement services are well coordinated and target the genuine needs of local communities. The objective is to find local solutions to local problems. This is clearly happening and we are seeing better coordination at all levels and a greater appreciation of the advantages of adopting a community development approach.

In many ways community development holds the key to successful settlement because it provides communities with a direct voice and practical involvement with the new community. This is particularly the case for refugees where social and language barriers can easily lead to isolation and disengagement.

In his speech from the Throne the Prime Minister said , "My Government will establish new relationships with the non-government and voluntary groups."

In May, we honoured that commitment with a Community Response Fund. This will make available up to $40 million in additional government support in the coming year to community and voluntary sector organisations. In the words of the Prime Minister, "by working more closely with these groups and turbo-charging their efforts, my Government will tap into the resources, ideas and collective goodwill of New Zealand communities.

This is where Strengthening Refugee Voices comes in. This initiative involves your communities directly in the development of settlement services and policies. It provides refugees with a voice. You have not been silent. Over the past year refugee communities throughout the country have made informative and helpful contributions on a range of issues. This has made it possible for you to make a collective and cohesive contribution to the development of both local and national policies.

In fact, Strengthening Refugee Voices has played a leading part in setting the tone and agenda for this Refugee Resettlement Forum. This has been developed in parallel with regional forums held in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch. These have resulted in a number of promising local initiatives including a Refugee Speakers Bureau and the successful production of a drama series that will shortly be commercially available as a DVD.

The Refugee Resettlement Forum was set up in 2005 with the aim of building capacities within our refugee communities. It's about helping people help themselves and that is clearly happening. This Forum provides a platform for you to address issues at a national level - to share ideas and arrive at solutions. As such it represents a significant step along the road to full participation in New Zealand society. I appreciate that this can often be a lengthy and difficult journey but it is a road we must all travel to realise our full potential. As a young Somali refugee has put it:

"Now I feel safe. I am able to go out and do anything I want to do without fear."

And that means building homes, businesses and careers and securing a better future for yourselves and your families.

This government recognises that good settlement outcomes are important. A project to evaluate settlement outcomes is under way and a major three year study looking into the long term settlement and integration of refugees is also being carried out by Immigration New Zealand.

This Forum however is about seizing the opportunities that are the fruit of freedom and security. I am confident that with informed help and guidance, that can be achieved. And that is why it is a privilege to open this National Refugee Resettlement Forum today.