PRESS RELEASE: Same Circumstances, Same Support: launch of the Asylum Seeker Equality Project
Friday, 19th August 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ChangeMakers Refugee Forum in collaboration with Wellington Community Justice Project – Human Rights Team launch a campaign calling for equal support for convention refugees in Aotearoa New Zealand

(Wellington, NZ) – Everyone has the right to seek asylum and to enjoy in other countries refuge from persecution. [1] Recently there has been extensive coverage on quota refugees however little is known about convention refugees, another category of people seeking refuge in New Zealand. ‘Marking Time: Experiences of successful asylum seekers in Aotearoa New Zealand’ [2] highlights the inconsistencies in support available to convention refugees simply because they seek refuge through a different pathway.

ChangeMakers Refugee Forum in collaboration with the Human Rights team of the Wellington Community Justice Project has launched a campaign to call on the government to provide the same level of support to convention refugees as afforded to those who come into the country under the UNHCR quota system. The campaign also aims to raise awareness around the inequities in the system, and how we are not meeting the basic fundamental human rights for convention refugees.

We are encouraging you all to get involved by:
1. Signing the petition on Action Station’s website: http://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/equal-support-for-convention-refugees-1
2. Helping us better understand the public perception towards asylum seekers by completing the survey: https://surveyplanet.com/5775f7a4a7539ada6d464b09; and
3. Staying informed with updates by following our sites on social media: ChangeMakers Refugee Forum or Asylum Seeker Equality Project

Notes:
[1] Article 14, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
[2] Marking time: Experiences of successful asylum seekers in Aotearoa New Zealand. Paper available here: http://crf.org.nz/research_programme

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