MEDIA RELEASE: REFUGEES AS SURVIVORS NZ
EMBARGOED UNTIL 5AM, JUNE 20TH 2018
“The nature, the people and the All Blacks”: What 7 former refugee kids love about New Zealand
New Zealand resettles 1,000 refugees each year (a number set to increase to 1,500 by 2020). More than half of these
people are children under 18.
RASNZ, a specialist mental health and wellbeing service provider for people from refugee backgrounds, wanted to know
what some of these young people thought of their new lives as kiwis.
They asked 7 members of their specialist youth service (along with two staff members who work with refugee background
youth) how they felt about New Zealand – and filmed the responses.
You can watch the (adorable) 2-minute video on YouTube here: 7 Refugee Kiwi Kids
While the feedback from the youth was overwhelmingly positive, there are still some key challenges that children and
teenagers from refugee backgrounds face. Many of the youth RASNZ works with talk about difficulties at school
(especially when English is their second – or third – language), discrimination based on their appearance or religion,
and the impact of emotional and physical trauma on their families.
RASNZ provides free mental health and wellbeing support along with dedicated youth programmes, to refugee background
families living in Auckland. The organisation works with more than 1,400 people every year, helping mums, dads,
grandparents and children to make the most of their new lives as kiwis.
RASNZ is a registered charity and you can support their work with refugee background youth by donating to their winter
appeal at https://rasnz.co.nz/get-
ENDS
About RASNZ:
RASNZ is New Zealand’s leading provider of mental health and wellbeing support to all incoming refugees at the Mangere
Refugee Resettlement Centre, as well as throughout the wider Auckland community.
Their holistic approach includes provision of free access for former refugees to psychologists, psychiatrists, body
therapists, cultural and community activities and dedicated youth programmes.