Ashburton is set to welcome refugees from Colombia and Venezuela from February next year.
Refugees from the two South American countries will make up most of the district’s 115 refugees next year, Immigration New Zealand says.
Refugee and Immigration Services manager Sarah Ward said, during a report to district council last week, that people would be aware of the Colombian political situation.
“It’s the longest standing human rights conflicts in the world. The Venezuelan situation is increasingly become more of a priority for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
“There’s about seven million people that are displaced and a really tiny percentage of them get put forward.”
The refugees from both countries are Spanish speaking and small families of three to four people.
Council group manager of community and open spaces Toni Durham said New Zealand had been taking refugees from Venezuela for the past 18 months.
“From next February we will be welcoming them into the Ashburton District, where we already have around several hundred people who can communicate in Spanish.’’
Ashburton’s quota of refugees was not going to change, but from the beginning of 2027 the majority would be from the South Americas, while Afghan refugees to Ashburton would be those with family links already here.
South American refugees would predominantly be from urban areas so may have some English skills, especially those who were tertiary educated.
Assistance will be given to the refugee to learn English and they are keen to learn English as it helps them to settle into their community.
There is an interpreting service available to assist those working with government departments.
‘‘Nationally, we take 50 per cent of our refugees from the Asia Pacific region. We take 10 per cent from the Americas.
“So this is a change in domestically where we’re allocating ethnic communities and there is there is a decrease in Afghan refugees generally. So it’s an opportunity to start a new community here in Ashburton,” Ward said.
Ashburton Refugee Resettlement coordinator Jane Wallace said the team was comfortable having to navigate a new ethnic group.
‘‘We do have a couple of Spanish speaking English teachers that are already in the centre.
‘‘The process will be the same. It’ll just be the same but different and we look forward to that challenge,” she said.
‘‘I think if we’re getting in experts and other supports from our ministry, we will be able to navigate these really swiftly. We’re flexible and we’re an agile team.”
