Sections

Refugees

Each year, 750 refugees come into New Zealand under the quota refugee programme. They are given temporary housing at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre in Auckland, for six weeks.

Refugees are granted permanent residence when they arrive in New Zealand, and are automatically eligible for Housing New Zealand housing.

Some Housing New Zealand regions are selected as resettlement areas, and take responsibility for finding homes for refugees from each of the six annual intakes.

Resettlement

The selection of these resettlement areas is mainly dictated by RMS Refugee Resettlement, an organisation contracted by the Department of Labour to provide settlement services to refugees.

RMS considers many things when looking to resettle refugees, including:

  • the location of support services
  • where refugees may have family or friends
  • whether they lived in rural or city areas before coming to New Zealand
  • the location of services such as schools and hospitals
  • community support such as ethnic clusters
  • the location of mosques, temples and churches.

We help refugees access housing in the area they will be living in. Sometimes this means finding a Housing New Zealand rental home, and at other times it may mean providing advice to help refugees consider other housing options, if we cannot supply housing in their area.

Refugee resettlement areas

Refugees are often resettled in the following areas:

  • Auckland
  • Hamilton
  • Napier
  • Palmerston North
  • Wellington
  • Nelson
  • Christchurch

Who we work with

We work closely with many government and community organisations, including:

  • Department of Labour
  • Refugee Quota Branch and its Settlement Division
  • Work and Income
  • Auckland University of Technology
  • Auckland District Health Board
  • RMS Refugee Resettlement
  • Auckland Regional Migrant Service (ARMS)
  • Auckland Refugees as Survivors