Matua Kahurangi
Matua Kahurangi, unapologetically provocative, is infamous for his incendiary writings that challenge societal taboos and stir relentless debate.
New Zealand is renowned for its welcoming nature, but has our generosity gone too far? A quick glance at the Immigration New Zealand website reveals just how streamlined and accommodating our asylum process has become. It may be so lenient that it invites misuse.
A page titled “Claiming asylum in New Zealand - How to make a claim for refugee or protection status if you are in New Zealand” reads like a how-to guide. It openly instructs individuals, even those on temporary tourist visas, on how to lodge an asylum claim once they have already arrived. For anyone looking to exploit a loophole, the instructions couldn’t be clearer.
New Zealand is party to international agreements that require us to protect people facing danger in their home countries. But the current setup allows individuals who simply fear returning home, a subjective and difficult-to-verify claim, to trigger the asylum process. They then become “refugee and protection claimants”, a title that comes with considerable benefits and very little initial scrutiny.
To start the process, an applicant fills out a 24-page form and sends it to the Refugee Status Unit. That is all it takes. Once the claim is lodged, not approved, just lodged, the floodgates of government support begin to open.
Claimants with valid permits can immediately become eligible for an Emergency Benefit from Work and Income. This payment is meant to help with basic living costs, even before the validity of their asylum claim is assessed. For someone on a tourist visa with no intention of returning home, this creates an incentive to claim asylum as a backdoor to welfare support.
It doesn’t stop there. If refugee status is granted, a host of additional benefits are on offer:
- Special Needs Grants to help establish a new home
- Permanent Residence, unlocking long-term welfare support
- Access to Work and Income Support, similar to what struggling New Zealanders receive
- Inclusion in the Refugee Resettlement Strategy, designed to help refugees integrate, including through programs like the Refugee Quota Programme and the Refugee Family Support Category
Even if only one-fifth of claims are successful, that still leaves hundreds of people each year entering a support system originally intended for those in genuine, life-threatening situations. With the door so easily opened, and with government assistance kicking in so quickly, the system is vulnerable to exploitation.
This is not an argument against helping people in true need. New Zealand has a proud history of compassion, and that should continue. But our policies must strike a better balance between compassion and caution. A process that allows virtually anyone with a tourist visa to claim asylum, receive government support, and apply for residence before their claim is even vetted is ripe for abuse.
When the bar is this low, the line between humanitarian obligation and a policy loophole begins to blur. It is time we asked whether we are protecting the vulnerable, or just leaving the door wide open.
This article was originally published on the author’s Substack.
