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“Many of those workers would not have had the opportunity to make those decisions [to go home],” she said.
“Things happened very quickly, some will have lost their jobs at a time when no other plan would have been possible, so we have always said that we must take a compassionate approach.”
Thousands of migrants, including those with work and tourist visas, were trapped when the country entered Level 4 blockade. Following the confinement, their situation made itself heard.
With tourism heavily affected by New Zealand border control, workers at the Queenstown tourist spot say they are in trouble.
Some 9,000 requests for assistance have been made to the Queenstown Lakes District Council, says Mayor Jim Boult.
Migrant worker Lucy Bateman, originally from the United Kingdom, said she now called New Zealand her home.
Bateman said the UK looked like a “disaster” and was glad to be in New Zealand.
“I’ve seen a lot of people write, you know, ‘just go home’ in Facebook posts.
“We have built our home here and our community here and it is not so easy to come home.”
