Ukraine Special Visa Programme Not Working for Refugees April 2023 Data Shows
The Wigram examines the policy in light of April data that shows 519 places or roughly 13% of positions opened in the Special Visa programme have been taken up by Ukrainians seeking safe harbour.
The war in Ukraine can seem like a world away from Christchurch’s residents going about their daily lives and trying to make ends meet in uncertain economic times.
Yet it doesn’t take much time to work out the war in Ukraine and the uncertainty it has generated has possibly impacted the country’s economy, most notably at the pump, in power bills and at the shopping till.
The Kherson region flooded/ Supplied: Vladimir Rodynanskiy, UANZ
The war has also impacted personal ties between Ukraine and the Christchurch community. The Wigram spoke to UC Engineering Lecturer Natalia Kabaliuk who was promoting Ukrainian culture at a recent fundraiser. See here.
“Yes, I do have family there. All of my family live in Kyiv, except for my daughter who is here with me in New Zealand.”
At the event, The Wigram also encountered an elderly gentleman called ‘Rafik’. He had left Ukraine and was learning English.
The Wigram had also met other Christchurch locals who either have family in Ukraine or relatives who have fled for New Zealand, including an elderly piano teacher and a Kherson resident Oleksander Stoliarov. His city had recently been affected by flooding and he lived briefly under Russian occupation before making his way here with his son Max’s help.
So, apart form this trickle, where were other refugees?
Of the 1405 applications that were approved, just 519 applicants had arrived in New Zealand by 3 April. The arrivals account for roughly just 37% of original applicants.
Figures released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise exclusively to The Wigram show the programme hasn’t had the impact it was meant to have.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The New Zealand Reporter to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.