Migrant workers will match standard unemployment rates for benefit payments

Starting in December, migrant workers who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, as well as student and visitor visa holders facing financial difficulties and unable to return home, will be able to get an emergency benefit for a limited time.

Generally, people who are not residents or citizens are not eligible for support from the Ministry of Social Development.

However, there is a specific provision in the law to grant emergency benefits to people who are not normally entitled to them, during an epidemic.

It has now been confirmed that the emergency benefit will be paid at the same rate as the support for job seekers.

That means single people will get $ 251 a week, people with a partner and children will get $ 428 a week, and single parents will get $ 375 a week.

But temporary visa holders will not be able to receive any additional support or payment, such as accommodation supplement or hardship assistance such as food grants.

They must also show that they are looking for work or other ways to support themselves, and that they are looking for options to get home.

So far, this group has had to be supported through a temporary program run by the Department of Internal Affairs and the Red Cross, which ends at the end of this month.

Since July, it has helped 12,300 people with basic needs such as food and shelter.

Advocates for migrant workers have been pushing for access to emergency benefits for months, saying they are relieved that it has finally happened.

The president of the Migrants Trade Union Network, Mandeep Bela, said it had been a difficult time for many.

“There were many of them who asked for help from the community and went out to get food packages,” he said.

“This announcement will be a relief to them because they can now go through a standard process.”

But Bela is still frustrated that it took so long.

“I feel that immigrants often confront Kiwis and that the rhetoric has caused a delay in [the section of the law allowing access to benefits during an epidemic] being activated “.

The president of the Migrant Workers Association, Anu Kaloti, also welcomes the changes.

But Kaloti worries that some temporary visa holders will be reluctant to apply for an emergency benefit because they don’t know how to do it or don’t trust the system.

“There will be people who will be cautious and nervous, and we have to keep in mind that temporary migrants will not be completely familiar with how work and income work.

“They have never been eligible for this type of assistance, so they have never had to use those services.”

Community Law Executive Director Sue Moroney said the government should have acted earlier to help temporary migrants, given it had the legal capacity to do so.

“What we wanted was for the law to be enacted the way it was intended … clearly, section 64 of the Social Security Act was there for exactly this reason, when there was a pandemic, that migrants had access to the benefit. of emergency.

“We were concerned that if it wasn’t going to be used in this case, what was the point of it?”

Moroney said the change should make a big difference for those who are struggling.

“It will be much clearer what the entitlement is and how much people will get, and that means they will actually get cash to support themselves.”

Applications for the emergency benefit for temporary visa holders open on December 1 and the benefit will be paid until the end of February.