Immigration - Our National Shame

It's what we dont see that is often more important than what might be staring us right in the face, or for which many of us conveniently and so easily turn a blind eye. For all our talk of being kind, inclusive and giving everyone equal treatment, New Zealand has a very long way to go. You might think I am referring to race, gender, age or any other number of issues that our society seems so heavily (and rightly) invested in tackling right now, but actually I am referring to something much more urgent, that unfortunately most people in this country remain blissfully unaware of.

When New Zealand closed it's borders in a desperate attempt to lock out Covid-19, there were many far-reaching consequences. People lost jobs and livelihoods, entire industries were stalled or closed down and for many us, life would radically change. In the many months that have since passed, things have continued to change, some for the better as our economy continues to show significant resilience and many of us have adapted (some better than others) to a new way of living and working and of course some for the worse. Regardles, we have all become significantly more aware of how fragile everything we have taken forgranted, for so long, actually is. We have however adapted and survived, we have adjusted and reinvented and if our economy is anything to go by, it is that resilience and adaptation that has played a key role in ensuring we dont fall completely off the bottom of the map. For the most part we did this as the newly minted "Team of 5 Million".

Yet in amongst all of this, we left a group of people behind, without giving them membership to the club. Our "team" pushed ahead and yet we ignored this group and we continue to do so. Those people however continue to support the "team" in the hope that at some point they will be recognised for that effort. Most people in New Zealand won't know them as the 'cohort', that our Government refers to them as, but you might know them as the individual teaching your child or the nurse caring for a family member. You might meet one or more of these people as you walk past any number of constructions sites as they toil away to give you a better space to live in or reviving Fluffy when you take the family cat to the Vet. They are probably responsible for ensuring that your online banking works as you pay your bills, or your phone still rings. They are the many temporary Visa holding migrants currently in New Zealand and we owe them more than we realise.

They are of course, those people that were brave enough to cross oceans to bring their skills and talents to these shores and to help this country to grow and prosper, long before Covid-19 knocked at our door. They are the people that believed this and previous Governments who marketed to them aggressively that this country was a place to invest their skills in and in return they would receive a safe and prosperous place to live. We sold them the dream, they put down the deposit (financially and emotionally) and yet then, when the going got tough and Covid hit, we let them all down - terribly. When I say terribly, what I really mean is that we neglected and continue to neglect these people so poorly that it tarnishes anyone's claim that New Zealand is a fair and just place to live.

We closed the borders to protect our country and it's people, or so were were sold, yet when we talked about our recovery and getting through this together in the "team" we were really talking about what that meant for the "Us" but not "Them". Those on a temporary Visas were given extensions to keep working and contributing but that is about as far as our generosity has extended. So what have we really done or not done for these people in return for their ongoing committment?

In short, nothing.

One might argue that nothing would have been better than what we have done to the thousands of people on temporary Visas in this country right now. For those whose families had not yet arrived, we stripped them of the right to bring their family members in to the country, save a very small and select bunch of people. It was in fact a bit more cruel than that...we started out by letting in a few of these family members based on an ad-hoc and random border selection process, giving everyone hope that they might also be so lucky. Then we shut that down. For more than a year, our Minister of Immigration and our Prime Minister have done absolutely nothing to address this issue or even acknowledge with an ounce of genuine sincerity that we have a real problem involving real people with families and children. There has been no signal as to when we might reunite these families, there has been no plan, no concession, not even any real communication to address the utter tragedy of it all. These temporary Visa holders, separated from their partners and children are then left with a choice...stay in the hope that something does happen and their significant investment in to this country is not lost and their dreams of a new life, not screwed up like a post-it note or leave and try to start again somewhere else.

To be able to make a choice would at least be something and if you know what the future holds, you can make that kind of decision, as difficult as it may be...this Government has not even afforded these people who have all been working and contributing to New Zealand, that right. They have done nothing.

On the other hand there are also thousands of migrants who are in New Zealand as an entire family (fortunately for them, having made it in before the moat was filled) and yet they sit here with no certainty over their future. Some of them are in a two year long queue awaiting the processing of their Residence application to give them that certainty, a queue that grows longer each day. Some of them haven't yet made it to that particular queue, but exist in another queue (pool) of people waiting to be selected to enter that two year Residence process (yes this is in fact how our system works) and again have no certainty over the future. Our Government has done nothing to address the fears and anxiety that these people face daily, whilst still benefiting from the work and contributions they continue to make. All we here, repeatedly is that there will be announcements coming soon. So far we have had more announcements to announce possible announcements than anything that might offer clarity.

There are many ways I could describe all of this but put simply it is shameful. Embarrassing, farcical, discriminatory and exploitative are also suitable descriptors but shameful encapsulates it for me.

If you, as a New Zealander, who has any ounce of belief in our fair and just values, agree with even part of what I have said, then you can lay the blame at the two feet in front of you because this is our problem. You don't even have to be pro-migrant, being a Kiwi should spark enough of a sense of injustice at the way this country has behaved. Sure, the Government sets the rules, but they are responsible to us as the people and we have done nowhere near enough to call them to account. There are a brave and committed bunch who raise the issue and lead the charge (you know who you are and thank you) but they arent enough and we need more. You might be tempted at this point (if you have made it this far) to say that its not something you were aware of, or no one told you about this and it's not my problem...yet your children are probably being taught by these migrants, your family members cared for by these migrants and your roads, offices and houses being built by these migrants. We are a country of migrants, which is something to be proud of, yet we are treating these particular migrants, most of which are seeking to make New Zealand home, so abhorently. We have all benefited from them and by not doing anything and sitting by watching as this horrendous situation continues, we are all to blame for the situation they are in.

We may yet reap what we sow.

For those of you who think that this doesnt affect you, come with me in to the future for a second. Imagine a world where Covid is not gone (I suspect that will never happen) but under control, planes are flying in the sky and people are free to move across borders once more. Now imagine that our economy and our livelihoods are on the edge of taking off once more, we are poised to be truly prosperous again and to do what NZ does best - punch above its own weight. Now consider what happens when our industries are crying out for more staff to fill a growing number of newly created jobs that there simply arent enough locals available to fill. Skill shortages begin to cripple growth, investment falls and our ability to push the recovery forward and realise our potential falters due to a lack of people. Finally take a look as this Government once again pours millions in to marketing that dream to all those talented people out there that we so desparately need. The last thing you are likely to see is migrants lining up to come here. What we do today, will impact on our ability to be competitive in the global talent market for a long time to come. Right now, we are destroying our migration brand, one Visa at a time and I can assure you that no matter how clean, green, safe and friendly we might be able to present ourselves to the world, migrant markets have very long memories.

In fact you dont really need to look in to the future at all, because already many of those migrants are calling our bluff. They have waited and held out hope that this Government might do something to recognise their ongoing and crucial contributions, yet in some sort of strange stand-off the migrants are starting to finally call it a day. Talented Doctors, Nurses, Engineers and Teachers have all decided to leave and seek out better, more welcoming opportunities. Countries like Canada are opening their doors, recognising that to be truly competitive you have to look past your own front door and in to that future and see that migrants and skills will be hard fought over. Even with those skills exiting the country, this Government does nothing. Any response from our Minister of Immigration is met with the standard "keeping New Zealanders safe" excuse, said with such specifity (and little credibility) as to have been tattooed on his forehead.

Of course we have constraints and we have restrictions as to how many people we can safely bring in as part of any attempt to reunite these split families, given our persistence with the go hard, go fast, elimination strategy, yet most of these migrants are not looking for tomorrow or even next month, they just want certainty. Our Minister doesnt have to open the door and let these partners and children in right away, we just need to offer them a plan. We might even go on to recognise their sacrifices, or apologise for how we have treated them and when the situation allows for it, we will reunite them and we will keep our promise to grant them Residence where they qualify for it. We need to make them a priority, perhaps not the first or even second priority but at least get them on the list. We have managed to do that for entertainers, sportspeople and wealthy individuals wanting to watch some even wealthier people play around in boats, yet we have not given any consideration to those that have helped build our infrastructure, educate our children, heal our sick and everything in between.

New Zealand needs to wake up and realise that we are not so popular that we can afford to damage our reputation as a migrant destination and get away with it. We are not immune to what will become an ever increasing competition to secure talented people as border restrictions ease. We cannot let the gloss of being Covid free cover over what is a significant humanitarian issue and most importantly we cannot continue to think that these migrants dont count because they are only here on temporary Visas. It should not be "Us" and "Them".

It might not seem like it but you can make a difference, you can change this and above all you should. Blog and post about it, share the new stories, comment in support of those who do and lobby anyone that will listen. When we finally realise that this is our problem, that will, if left unchecked, impact on all of our futures and we all take responsibility for it, we might just encourage those who we employ, to take action.

We owe it to those who have done and continue to do so much for us, to do something so small but important for them.