Refugees

Crowd greeting Polish refugees

Pahīatua's 'Little Poland'

Boys' dormitory at Polish children's refugee camp

New Zealand's first refugees: Pahiatua's Polish children

Peter Fraser (then Prime Minister) and Countess Wodzicka (far left) greet Polish refugee children who have just arrived in Wellington on board the ship General Randall in 1944. These World War II refugee children were part of some 734 Polish children “invited” by New Zealand in 1944. Most were orphans who had lost their parents in Russian labour camps during the war.

Ethiopian refugees reunite

Chinese refugees arrive at Auckland (Manawatu Times, 5 September 1939)

Eat your cake: I'm a Vietnamese refugee

Climate refugees

Tsunami

Evacuees from Vietnam, at Whenuapai aerodrome

Somali mother and son reunited in New Zealand

Asian refugees from Uganda arriving at Wellington airport

Cambodian refugees learning to ride bicycles in Waikanae

Refugees or migrants: What's in a word?

Belgian refugees in the First World War

Taranaki refugees (Lyttelton Times, 15 August 1860)

When people can no longer live in their country due to violence, persecution or natural disaster they often flee and stay in refugee camps. These camps are mostly run by NGO organisations such as the UN and provide basic accommodation, education and healthcare. Although these camps are supposed to be temporary places for refugees to stay, some have lived in camps for many years. Currently the largest camps are in The Middle East, Africa and South Asia. This is an image of a young boy living in a Japanese refugee camp in China.

'Julia Gillard's in difficulty out there...

Australia has one of the strictest refugee and asylum seeker policies. Refugees are required to stay in offshore detention centres before being allowed into Australia. In 2016 there were approximately 2000 asylum seekers living in these detention centres, which the government is under pressure to close. New Zealand has offered take 150 refugees and asylum seekers, however this decision has created much controversy. This cartoon is one of many that portray a view of the government’s decision.

Somalian refugee family

The first Somali refugees came to New Zealand in 1993. Over the last 15 or so years, many refugees entering New Zealand (like Abdi Mohamed, his wife and 11 children in the above photograph) have been from countries associated with the Horn of Africa. Refugees from this part of the world have fled from natural disasters, famine, civil war and anarchy to refugee camps in Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya - and from those camps to New Zealand.

Red Cross flag

Life can be very tough for refugees as they are forced to leave their homes and everything they are familiar with. This change can be very difficult, so there are organisations that aid refugees. Here in New Zealand, the New Zealand Red Cross are one of the main providers of community refugee resettlement programmes. The Red Cross provide several services to help refugees settle in New Zealand including, orientation information sessions, settlement planning workshops and employment assistance.