Friday, 5 February 2021, 3:10 pm
New Zealand’s Refugee Quota Programme is resuming with
small groups of refugee families beginning to arrive for
resettlement in February 2021.
New Zealand’s annual
refugee programme is a reflection of our international
humanitarian commitments to provide protection to people who
are not able to return safely to their home
country.
Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ) General
Manager Refugee and Migrant Services, Fiona Whiteridge says
since March last year, the quota refugee programme has been
on hold as New Zealand focused on a nationwide COVID-19
response, with the exception of only a small number of
priority emergency cases of refugees have been
This statement can be attributed to Peter Elms, INZ National Manager Border. The New Zealand border is currently closed to all but New Zealand citizens and residents and foreign nationals who are determined to have a critical purpose for coming to .