The Press is reporting that migrant workers made redundant are being forced out of New Zealand in droves or ending up destitute on the streets. Mike Bell, director of the Skilled Migrant Information and Resource Centre in Christchurch said the Government’s policy of pushing migrants out of the country by denying them work visas was affecting New Zealand’s international reputation. Migrants who were made redundant while on a short-term visa were being told they had as little as 21 days to find another job, leaving them just weeks to decide whether to stay or leave the country they had come to call home.

The centre was recently warned by the office of Associate Immigration Minister Kate Wilkinson for helping the family of a German migrant worker who lost his job in the recession. A letter from her private secretary Emma Hope read “It appears you are an unlicensed onshore immigration adviser. While you have this status, under the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007, you should not provide immigration advice to any client,”

Philippine consul-general Emilie Shi has called on the New Zealand Government to “have some compassion and human consideration” as thousands of Filipino workers plan to outstay their work permits. About 30,000 Filipinos are in New Zealand on work permits or the work-to-residence scheme. Dennis Maga, national co-ordinator of the Filipino migrant advocacy group Migrante Aotearoa, told The New Zealand Herald that Filipino workers,

came here on a promise that they can start a new life, now suddenly New Zealand wants them out - but they have nothing to go home to. These people have nothing to lose. An increasing number we represent are already overstayers and are being forced to work underground, becoming subject to exploitation by employers and creating a whole new problem.