| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Afghan New Zealanders 5,250 Afghan-born (2018) [1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton, Wellington, Palmerston North | |
| Languages | |
| Pashto, Hazaragi, Dari, New Zealand English, | |
| Religion | |
| Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Afghan diaspora |
Afghan New Zealanders are New Zealanders whose ancestors came from Afghanistan or who were born in Afghanistan.
Afghan migration to New Zealand started in the late 1980s. [2] By mid-1990 a new wave of Afghans had fled Afghanistan to escape the civil war that followed the withdrawal of the Soviets and the fall of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in 1992. Many of these Afghans had close ties to high ranking Afghan officials in the previous government and many also were high-ranking officials in the army themselves, starting their lives from scratch and calling New Zealand home.[ citation needed ]
131 Afghans came to New Zealand as refugees on the MV Tampa during the Tampa affair in 2001. [3]
Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in late August 2021, the New Zealand Government offered 1,253 visas to Afghans. [4] The New Zealand Defence Force participated in international efforts to evacuate Afghans who had worked for Western military forces. [5] [6] By early October 2021, only 428 had arrived in New Zealand. In response, the New Zealand Government dispatched a special envoy to the Middle East to help 825 stranded Afghan visa holders to leave Afghanistan. [4]
Philip Bruce Goff is a New Zealand politician and diplomat. He currently serves as High Commissioner of New Zealand to the United Kingdom since 2023. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as leader of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition between 11 November 2008 and 13 December 2011.
Peter Craig Dutton is an Australian politician who is the current leader of the Opposition, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia since May 2022. He previously served as the minister for Defence from 2021 to 2022 and the minister for Home Affairs from 2017 to 2021. He has been a member of Parliament (MP) for the Queensland seat of Dickson since 2001 and has held ministerial portfolios in the federal governments of Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison.
In late August 2001, the Howard government of Australia refused permission for the Norwegian freighter MV Tampa, carrying 433 rescued refugees and 5 crew, to enter Australian waters. This triggered an Australian political controversy in the lead-up to the 2001 federal election, and a diplomatic dispute between Australia and Norway.
Foreign relations between neighbouring countries Australia and New Zealand, also referred to as Trans-Tasman relations, are extremely close. Both countries share a British colonial heritage as antipodean Dominions and settler colonies, and both are part of the core Anglosphere. New Zealand sent representatives to the constitutional conventions which led to the uniting of the six Australian colonies but opted not to join. In the Boer War and in both world wars, New Zealand soldiers fought alongside Australian soldiers. In recent years the Closer Economic Relations free trade agreement and its predecessors have inspired ever-converging economic integration. Despite some shared similarities, the cultures of Australia and New Zealand also have their own sets of differences and there are sometimes differences of opinion which some have declared as symptomatic of sibling rivalry. This often centres upon sports and in commercio-economic tensions, such as those arising from the failure of Ansett Australia and those engendered by the formerly long-standing Australian ban on New Zealand apple imports.
Afghan refugees are citizens of Afghanistan who were forced to flee their country as a result of wars, persecution, torture or genocide. The 1978 Saur Revolution followed by the 1979 Soviet invasion marked the first major wave of internal displacement and international migration to neighboring Iran and Pakistan; smaller numbers also went to India or to countries of the former Soviet Union. Between 1979 and 1992, more than 20% of Afghanistan's population fled the country as refugees. Following the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, many returned to Afghanistan, however many Afghans were again forced to flee during the civil war in the 90s. Over 6 million Afghan refugees were residing in Iran and Pakistan by 2000. Most refugees returned to Afghanistan following the 2001 United States invasion and overthrow of the Taliban regime. Between 2002 and 2012, 5.7 million refugees returned to Afghanistan, increasing the country's population by 25%.
Immigration New Zealand, formerly the New Zealand Immigration Service (NZIS), is the agency within the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) that is responsible for border control, issuing travel visas and managing immigration to New Zealand.
Refugees in New Zealand have two main pathways for gaining protection in the country. Asylum seekers may seek protection after arrival in New Zealand. Refugees may also be resettled from offshore through New Zealand's Refugee Quota Programme. In 2017/18 a community sponsorship pathway was trialled, extended from 2021.
Migration to New Zealand began only very recently in human history - with Polynesian settlement in New Zealand, then uninhabited, about 1250 CE to 1280 CE. European migration provided a major influx, especially following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Subsequent immigrants have come chiefly from the British Isles, but also from continental Europe, the Pacific, the Americas and Asia.
New Zealand passports are issued to New Zealand citizens for the purpose of international travel by the Department of Internal Affairs. New Zealand has a passport possession rate of around 70% of the population and there are around 2.9 million New Zealand passports in circulation.
Visa requirements for Canadian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Canada.
Visa requirements for Romanian citizens are the administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other territories affecting citizens of Romania. As of January 2024, Romanian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 179 countries and territories, ranking the Romanian passport 13th in terms of travel freedom, according to the Henley Passport Index.
Visa requirements for Afghan citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Afghanistan.
Visa requirements for New Zealand citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of New Zealand. As of 2023,
Afghan diaspora refers to the Afghan people that reside and work outside of Afghanistan. They include natives and citizens of Afghanistan who have immigrated to other countries. The majority of the diaspora has been formed by Afghan refugees since the start of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979; the largest numbers temporarily reside in Iran and Pakistan. As stateless refugees or asylum seekers, they are protected by the well-established non-refoulement principle and the U.N. Convention Against Torture. The ones having at least one American parent are further protected by United States laws.
The Sixth Labour Government governed New Zealand from 26 October 2017 to 27 November 2023. It was headed first by Jacinda Ardern and later by Chris Hipkins, as Labour Party leader and prime minister.
The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand was part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first case of the disease in New Zealand was reported on 28 February 2020. The country recorded over 2,274,370 cases. Over 3,000 people died as a result of the pandemic, with cases recorded in all twenty district health board (DHB) areas. The pandemic first peaked in early April 2020, with 89 new cases recorded per day and 929 active cases. Cases peaked again in October 2021 with 134 new cases reported on 22 October.
On 15 August 2021, the city of Kabul, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, was captured by Taliban forces during the 2021 Taliban offensive, concluding the War in Afghanistan that began in 2001. The fall of Kabul provoked a range of reactions across the globe, including debates on whether to recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan, on the humanitarian situation in the country, on the outcome of the War, and the role of military interventionism in world affairs.
Large-scale evacuations of foreign citizens and some vulnerable Afghan citizens took place amid the withdrawal of US and NATO forces at the end of the 2001–2021 war in Afghanistan. The Taliban took control of Kabul and declared victory on 15 August 2021, and the NATO-backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan collapsed. With the Taliban controlling the whole city except Hamid Karzai International Airport, hostilities ceased and the Taliban assisted in the evacuation effort by providing security and screening evacuees.
Charlotte Bellis is a New Zealand journalist who previously reported for Al Jazeera. Bellis attracted media attention in August 2021 after interviewing a senior Taliban leader Abdul Qahar Balkhi following the fall of Kabul. In early 2022, Bellis attracted media attention in New Zealand and abroad after highlighting her difficulty in returning home due to the country's tough COVID-19 border restrictions.
New Zealand–Ukraine relations are the foreign relations between New Zealand and Ukraine. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, New Zealand formally established diplomatic relations with Ukraine in March 1992. The two countries subsequently expanded diplomatic contacts and economic relations over the next three decades. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, New Zealand supported Ukraine by condemning Russia's actions and providing diplomatic and military assistance.
| Asia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Europe | ||
| Americas | ||
| Oceania | ||
| See also | ||
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