World Vision Youth Advocates, Clench, Tessa and Cole, delivered your letters on New Zealand's refugee policies, directly to Parliament asking the Minister of Immigration, Iain Lees-Galloway to make it easier for refugees from Africa and the Middle East to find protection in New Zealand as soon as possible.
The Minister received your letters, expressed gratefulness for our advocacy and acknowledged it is an important issue to discuss. He confirmed he wants to use New Zealand’s quota to help those who need it most, and that he is currently talking to Immigration NZ to see what can be done.
At this stage, he has other immigration issues that are more urgent for him to address. He was sympathetic to our calls, encouraged us to continue to shine a light on this issue and lobby other key Ministers and MPs, especially from the NZ First and Green parties in the lead up to the next formal review of New Zealand’s refugee quota (June 2019).