Covid 19 coronavirus: government will help stranded immigrants fly home

By Gill Bonnett of RNZ

The Government has agreed to pay for repatriation flights for stranded immigrants who cannot afford to buy tickets to their countries of origin.

The Department of Home Affairs and the Red Cross will first assess whether temporary visa holders can finance their own return trip or whether their embassy will assist them.

The Association for Migration and Investment says estimates of how many people can accept the offer are in the region of 7,000 people.

They include workers who have lost their jobs and visitors whose funds have been depleted.

New Zealand Immigration does not say how much it will cost, but does emphasize that the money will have to be repaid if immigrants want to return to New Zealand in the future.

“In exceptional cases, INZ is assisting with the payment of the repatriation costs of individuals that the Department of Internal Affairs assesses as eligible to receive assistance under the DIA / Red Cross Alien Support Program,” said a spokesman.

“Under the program, DIA provides information to people who are assessed as being in distress about INZ’s potential to help them with the cost of their trip home, if they cannot cover these costs themselves and cannot get assistance from your country of origin., High Commission or Consulate “.

The spokesperson said INZ had limited funds to use for the initiative and that tickets would also be limited by the number of flights available, as well as transit or entry requirements for a migrant’s return to the country of origin, and whether they have a valid travel document.

“This is being paid for with limited surplus funds from INZ’s deportation budget that otherwise cannot be used at this time due to the same limitations that stranded migrants experience, such as travel restrictions, including flight availability, options for transit and border closures, “the spokesman said. .

“Some of these factors will also make it difficult for the repatriation initiative to find an eligible home. Individuals who are deemed eligible and use this assistance must reimburse the costs of their repatriation before they are issued a visa to return to New Zealand.”

The president of the Association for Migration and Investment, June Ranson, said that the initiative had not been publicly announced by the government, but that the plan was put into action this week.

It would be a relief from the mental anguish some had been suffering, he said.

“Migrants need to be able to get the proper counseling to see if they have any chance of being able to stay here, but there are people here, temporary visa holders who are stranded,” he said.

“They are going through difficulties, they cannot get flights to go home and it is not easy for them. Therefore, as long as they meet the criteria and really need to go home, they should contact the Department of Internal Affairs, who will do the evaluation.

“It’s about evaluating people’s financial capacity to pay, they should be vigilant to see if there are flights available, they should talk to their embassies and consulates, and if they don’t help them, [then] go to the Department of Internal Affairs. “