Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand is calling on the Minister of Immigration Andrew Little to halt work on the Immigration (Mass Arrivals) Amendment Bill 2023.

"Forcing through this legislation would be frankly bewildering," said Lisa Woods, Campaigns Director at Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand.

"The proposed Bill poses unacceptable risks to the human rights of people seeking refuge in this country - people who have often lived through unspeakable suffering at the hands of authorities.

"We do not believe that the measures contained in the Bill that extend detention are "proportionate" or "necessary" as required under international human rights law," said Woods.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees detention guidelines state a person seeking asylum must be brought promptly before an authority to have a detention decision reviewed - in the first instance taking place within 24-48 hours of the initial decision to detain. The extension under the Bill is not consistent with this guideline.

Furthermore, there appears to have been a complete lack of consultation with impacted people prior to the introduction of the Bill, including people with lived experience of seeking asylum, organisations who support people seeking asylum, the Judiciary and lawyers working in this area.

"The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee has been clear that they could not recommend that the Bill progresses. The fact that nearly all of the submissions received were opposed to the legislation highlights the concerns of the many New Zealanders who raised their voices too," said Woods.

"It appears that the Government is pushing through these changes because it is worried that the current system cannot deal effectively with the possible arrival of larger numbers of people seeking asylum. In that case, the solution is to equip its border and legal systems with the resources they need to ensure that all people are treated fairly and in a way that upholds human rights.

"Instead, what the Government is doing is adjusting the rules in a way that deprioritises human rights. This sends a worrying message and sets a dangerous precedent for future changes to the law.

"Our message is clear - the Government must uphold all rights for people seeking refuge and they must create a system that can do so in a fair and timely way," said Woods.

Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand is concerned that there is currently a lack of clarity about where people seeking asylum may be detained. This includes children, people who are pregnant, people who are breastfeeding, elderly people and people with a disability.

"The fact that some people seeking asylum could still be detained in prisons is simply unacceptable. Just last year, the Government pledged to stop using prisons to detain people seeking asylum but they are yet to make the necessary legislative change. This is a particularly harmful practice that should be abolished," said Woods.

In 2014 the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention visited Aotearoa New Zealand and raised concerns about the use of criminal justice facilities to detain people seeking asylum. In their report presented to the Human Rights Council in 2015, they recommended the abolishment of this practice.

Last year, Immigration New Zealand released an independent review carried out by Victoria Casey KC into the detention in prison of people seeking asylum. The review clearly states detention at Corrections facilities should not occur. In response, Immigration New Zealand accepted the recommendation, along with others in the review.

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