They have already met with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and on 10 October met with Opposition leader Chris Hipkins and several senior members of the Labour Party.

Specific concerns

The ethnic leaders told Hipkins and his cohorts they are particularly concerned about immigration, health inequalities and crime policies.

"We had a good opportunity to discuss some of the priority immigration issues impacting our collective ethnic and faith communities" said Daljit Singh, representing the Sikh associations in New Zealand.

Another leader at the meeting said hate crimes against ethnic and faith communities had increased.

"The changes recommended by Royal Commission on 15 March have yet to be completed and this is important for all our communities" Wellington Indian Association President Manisha Morar said.

"There are significant lessons learned which have not yet been implemented, especially in the area of hate speech and hate crime."

Data paints an ugly picture

New Zealand Police data shows that almost three-quarters of all hate crime offences reported since 2020 were motivated by race or ethnicity.

Their records show that between 1 January 2020 and 30 June, 19,589 hate-motivated offences were reported to police, with 14,285 - or 73 percent - being motivated by the victim's race or ethnicity.

Additionally, 1563 offences were based on the victim's sexual orientation. Another 1069 were related to religion or faith.

Possible solutions

Paul Patel of the Indian Central Association and Anwar Ghani from the Federation of Islamic Associations voiced concern over rising crime.

Community-led crime prevention efforts are needed urgently, they said.

The New Zealand Chinese Association is also concerned that ethic communities are not suitably catered for.

Richard Leung and Debbie Chen told Hipkins that health disparities negatively affect ethnic communities. Community-led solutions are crucial to address these challenges, they said.

That call was underlined by Gregory Fortuin of the African Leaders Group.

"We also need to have effective and on-going engagement to uplift our communities" Fortuin said.

Robert Hunt, chair of the New Zealand Buddhist Council, says the country's education system should better reflect New Zealand's ethnic diversity.

Point taken

"It was excellent to meet with representatives from our many ethnic and faith communities to discuss their priorities and the issues that we can work through alongside each other" Chris Hipkins said on social media after the meeting.

"It's important that the voices of ethnic communities are heard and embedded into the decisions we make to take our country forward, as we prepare to be the next government."

Source

• RNZ

On top of that challenge, the Bay Area is home to a rapidly growing immigrant population from a host of countries, whose members are often in need of day-to-day help simply to survive.

Catholic Charities

At the heart of this city's burgeoning demand for social services, ranging from housing and meals to legal assistance and education, is Catholic Charities San Francisco.

In order to affect the lives of its struggling constituents in a meaningful way, the agency has had to dramatically change in some ways.

It's changed the way it manages and delivers a constellation of assistance programmes through its 500 employees and $60- to $90-million annual budget, among the largest in the Catholic Charities USA network.

Training programme

Rising to help meet that formidable challenge to Catholic Charities, not just in San Francisco but in its agencies across the country, is a new nonprofit executive management training programme.

As of this spring, the programme will have brought top-tier business school knowledge and skills to local leaders at nearly all of Catholic Charities' 167 offices.

The programme gives Catholic Charities the opportunity to break from more than a century of entrenched management rules and regulations.

This then enables the nation's largest purveyor of social services to move a new business model characterised by best practices, strategic thinking and, above all, the relentless need for change that nearly every office is now facing.

"The executive-level training enabled me to develop a robust theory of change across our agency, and that's helped us to ensure the sustainability of key assistance programs and services," said Ellen Hammerle, chief executive officer of Catholic Charities San Francisco.

One programme that has already benefited, she points out, is the Center for Immigration, Legal and Support Services.

Traditionally beset by fiscal challenges, that center revamped the structure of its extensive legal services programme to make it more of a business model than a social services model.

The process they use to do this was guided by the innovative thinking and strategic tools that Dr. Hammerle acquired from her nonprofit management training.

The need for advanced, C.E.O.-caliber education is echoed across the Catholic Charities network.

"We have amazing leaders in our Catholic Charities offices, but many don't have the background of running what amounts to an independent business and don't have the financial resources to get that in-depth training," explains Anthony Sciacca.

He's the executive vice president and chief development officer of Catholic Charities USA.

"Our C.E.O.s are thrilled that a course of this magnitude is being offered to them, and at the conclusion, they can't wait to take what they have learned back to their respective organizations for implementation."

Putting the ‘Theory of Change' to Work

Catholic Charities in Green Bay, Wis., is closely following that playbook.

It is deploying theory of change tools that Karmen Lemke, director of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Green Bay, gleaned from her advanced business training.

These tools aim to target humanitarian services that will have the greatest impact on resource-poor communities in some 16 mostly rural counties of Northeast Wisconsin.

"It's here, beyond the borders of Green Bay, where some of the greatest social needs exist, and where our unique presence can fulfill what God is calling on us to do to serve those most in need," said Ms. Lemke.

She manages a staff of 35 and an annual budget between $4.5 million and $5 million.

"My academic training is helping us to connect our goals with our mission and to draw on data-driven information and resources wherever possible to make those important decisions.

"It will also be helpful in measuring and communicating the impact of our outreach activities."

Laura Deitrick, director of the Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego, which designed and delivers the certificate-granting program, underscores its ability to change the mindset of participants.

"These leaders are running very successful organisations, but a programme like this is designed to move their thinking to a more strategic level, which could mean greater engagement with their boards, for example.

"It could also mean for instance, figuring out what measurable outcomes they want to achieve in the community and then writing a budget that will get them there," Dr. Deitrick said. Read more

• Randy Young is a freelance writer in New Jersey.

There's been a steady increase in roll numbers, according to the Ministry of Education.

Immigrants boost school rolls

An immigration-driven surge in enrolments is adding to the pressure. The national school roll is now topping 831,038 children.

In Invercargill, Catholic co-ed Verdon College has reached its maximum enrolment number.

The school must hold spots for preference pupils, says principal Jarlath Kelly (pictured).

"It's been a bit tricky for us and we've had to turn people away - and we're just trying to hold on to places for our preference students, being a Catholic school."

Verdon College has many pupils from immigrant families which has been positive for the school, Kelly says.

"A lot of our new-to-New Zealand families are from the Philippines and we have a very vibrant and thriving Filipino community. We have done for some years so that's another positive for us."

The school welcomes new New Zealanders. Communication is eased by employing staff who can speak various languages.

Other Southland secondary principals are also reporting increasing school rolls.

This is borne out by the Ministry of Education's provisional rolls for Otago and Southland in 2024, which show a one percent increase. That's the equivalent of 486 children, according to provisional rolls for 2023.

Southland Secondary Principals Association chairman, school principal Peter Wilkinson says he thinks some schools in Southland are at capacity for infrastructure and teaching staff.

Primary school rolls decline

Interestingly, Southland primary schools are seeing a slight decline in enrolment numbers.

One principal says his school saw a peak in enrolments about five years ago.

"In the last two to three years those big increases have been going off to high school ... so there is a slight decline of enrolments."

His roll is sitting at about 400 pupils at the moment and is expected to go down to 350 at the start of next year. This is likely to climb to about 430 by the end of next year.

The fluctuation may be driven by rental accommodation which often leads to transient enrolments as people live in the area for a while and then move on.

Additional ESOL funding needed

One primary principal says he has many international pupils from Columbia and, although they managed English as a Second Language (ESOL), they could always use more funding.

"We're doing all right but that's just through sheer chance and because we've got experienced staff," he says.

Source

• Otago Daily Times

Stats NZ said there was a record net migration gain of 96,200 in the year to July.

It said it was driven by net gains of non-New Zealand citizens and changes to immigration settings. "The record net migration gain in the July 2023 year follows 12 months of a fully open New Zealand border and equates to a net gain of about 19 people per 1000 population," population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said.

This reverses a net migration loss of 14,500 in the July 2022 year. Read more

At a Mass celebrated Sunday in Budapest, His Holiness called on the Hungarian government — led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President Katalin Novák, both Christian, neither Catholic — to loosen its stringent border control policies.

Over 50,000 people were present at the Mass, including Orbán and Novák.

The pope said, "We Christians, all of us called by name by the Good Shepherd, are summoned to receive and spread his love, to make his fold inclusive and never to exclude others."

He called on Hungary to "open the doors" to immigrants and refugees, noting "how sad and painful it is to see closed doors." Francis has long advocated for immigration policies bordering (no pun intended) on open borders.

The pontiff's comments were likely not appreciated by Orbán.

Under the leadership of his Fidesz party, Hungary has developed and enforced strict border-control policies, often garnering criticism from more left-leaning European heads of state.

A report released last month, however, revealed that Hungary's immigration policies were actually responsible for a more than 20 percent drop in illegal immigration into Europe as a whole.

Despite leftist criticisms, other European nations are following Hungary's lead, like Italy, under the leadership of conservative Catholic Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and even France, helmed by leftist darling Emmanuel Macron, once a vocal critic of Orbán's border policies.

Orbán has been one of the driving forces behind protecting his homeland's borders. In 2021, he explained that his border-control policies are a defense of Hungarian national identity, which he clearly holds dear:

If we invite others from outside Europe that will change the cultural identity of Europe…. There are some countries that accept it but Hungary is not among those countries. We would not like to change the cultural identity of our country so we don't accept migration as a solution to demographic politics or demographic challenges.

He loudly encourages all Hungarians to hold their national heritage dear, too.

For example, Orbán earlier this year said that his country's national anthem highlights Hungarians' "greatest struggles — sometimes peaceful, sometimes warlike — [which] have always been fought so that we can remain who we are, so that we can live as we want to live."

If the prime minister's policies are any indication, he also considers the family core to who Hungarians are and how they want to live.

Orbán and Fidesz have worked hard to encourage Hungarians to grow their families, including by exempting mothers under 30 from paying income tax and introducing various government subsidies and tax breaks to support larger families. Continue reading

The Court struck down a 50 year old decision (called Roe v. Wade). That decision legalised abortion on a federal basis. The upshot is individual states can now ban the procedure.

Since the Supreme Court decision, one of New Zealand's the two main government websites has recorded a 443 percent increase in visits from the United States.

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) said it recorded 45,235 US visits to 'New Zealand Now' in the last week.This contrasts significantly to the 8319 visits recorded from April 19 to 25.

The NZ immigration website views combined with those for INZ reached 77,000 last week - almost four times the number in April.

'New Zealand Now' is a government website managed by INZ.

"It focuses on providing information for people interested in moving to New Zealand to work or invest", INZ says.

Analysis through Google shows the search term Immigration New Zealand peaked in America on 25 June. At that time, Americans were digesting the news that the new ruling made access to abortions virtually impossible in at least 18 states.

Radio New Zealand says the recent spike in interest in NZ immigration websites isn't without precedent. It is still below the tracking numbers of 'move to New Zealand' registered when Donald Trump was elected president.

That spike in interest was followed by a jump in US investors and migrants.

Immigration NZ notes the recent increase in website numbers, plus repeat visitors, do not reflect visa applications that have been made. Nor do they reflect people actually moving here.

The Trump and Brexit votes, both in 2016, were however followed by increases in work and residence visa applications.

After the 2016 presidential vote, Britain and the United States accounted for more visits to the Immigration website than the next 13 countries combined - including China and India.

A recruitment agency says it is has been flooded with inquiries from US doctors wanting to come here following the abortion ruling. Many GPs and obstetricians are among those making inquiries.

Source

• RNZ

Almost 200,000 people have now applied to become residents under the fast-track visa, and one in four has been approved.

Immigration figures show New Zealand has created more residents in the last six months than any year in the last decade.

However, the number of applications that have been decided on has not been even across nationalities.

More than one in five of the 10,000 British applicants have already had their residence decided, compared with fewer than one in 12 Chinese. Continue reading

During his two-day visit to Malta, the pontiff visited the Peace Lab in Ħal Far where he met with migrants and warned authorities against becoming complicit in the violation of human rights.

Pope Francis heard the accounts of two men who recounted the arduous journeys they suffered to reach Malta. He was also presented with a life jacket, a symbol of the risks that migrants take when they make the journey to Europe.

Pope Francis told migrants St Paul and fellow castaways had been treated with "unusual kindness" in Malta.

However, the pope's message was not universally welcomed, with several people taking issue with his appeal for solidarity and taking to Facebook to vent their displeasure.

Overwhelmingly, the sentiment among users was that if the pope was concerned with the wellbeing of migrants, then he should "take them back with him to the Vatican". Continue reading

It is a labour shortage echoed by a local priest!

"I wonder if I should turn out the lights in Church on Sunday?" he asked.

The priest does not want to be identified.

"You know the shortage of restaurant workers has a parallel in the Church", he commented to CathNews; adding, he is the parish priest of what were four parishes.

"How many more parishes will I have to take on?"

The priest acknowledged there were benefits in combining parishes; 'economies of scale'; one secretary, one accountant, one parish council, but said while these are vital roles, it is not really the point.

"They're hubs of faith", he said.

He thought the Amazon Synod might have delivered married priests, 'viri probati', he is now hopeful he will get help from overseas priests.

"It's either that (priests from overseas) or the Church needs to seriously think about how it can change its model of ministry in parishes".

The priest told CathNews that in his opinion Bishop Vincent Long from Parramatta has put out the challenge not only to Australia, but New Zealand too.

"Long's 'on the money', the days of a Church based on a clerical model are over".

Pressed, he agreed the Church takes a long term view but emphasised, "I need a solution, and if I'm honest, ideally now, but certainly soon".

Right behind the New Zealand synod, he is of the view the New Zealand Church, "at least", needs a decent organisational change strategy accompanied by a lot of prayer.

"I hope we all bring our ears to the New Zealand Synod conversations."

The priest acknowledged two of the parishes he serves are small, but does not think closing them down is the solution.

"It's certainly time to stop thinking in the old ways; shutting things down when one priest can no longer supply services in the same way, particularly in rural areas, disrespects people's lives, their faith and the Church's commitment to the local community".

The priest acknowledged parishes need priests, and then went on to say, "we're not the only component in parishes."

"We need to approach the various situations with pastoral sensitivity".

"We're not a branch of a bank that closes when the rent outweighs the number of transitions", he said.

"We need to approach the matter differently.

"We need to think differently".

"Gerry Arbuckle calls is it 'refounding the Church'.

"I always thought that was a 'tall order', but perhaps I should read his book again; this time with 'different eyes'".

The priest says he keeps a watch on the News and wondered at the time about the impact of the Government's new immigration settings.

Responding to the 'immigration reset', Westpac economists say the Government's announced review into migration settings will result in a "significant tightening" in the form of tougher skills requirements for new migrants.

The bank's Satish Ranchhod says a tightening in migration settings will see a big change when the borders reopen.

Net migration is likely to settle around 30,000 per annum which is about half of what New Zealand saw over much of the past decade.

Asking the priest if he was aware the Immigration Department has a special category for religious workers, the priest replied, "yes", followed quickly by, "And they don't have to buy a house".

"The fact is, for some time now priests haven't been coming and it seems they are not coming".

"It's post-lockdown and New Zealand is not open, the world is way off safely being fully open and I suspect we need to think differently".

Sources

• interest.co.nz
• Stuff
• Immigration NZ
• Image: Stuff

But there are some contributing factors that might not have had the attention they deserve.

The demography of New Zealand is changing, with major implications for rugby, especially for player participation.

The impacts of immigration and a growing diversity help explain why rugby is losing ground as a sport in Auckland and other cities where immigrants and ethnic minorities reside, but there is a very different reason in the regions.

The numbers playing rugby nationally still look strong, but the arrival and success of girls' and women's rugby has tended to mask the challenges of maintaining a player base.

Take secondary schools. In 2000, rugby still dominated school sports, with nearly 31,000 players. By 2020, there were 6500 fewer players, a drop of 20 per cent, and the sport was third in the numbers playing, while rugby sevens had grown and involved 5000 players.

In the same period, basketball had grown by almost 50 per cent to become the second most popular sport, while the participation in football had grown to nearly 21,000, supplemented by futsal (7000 players).

By 2020, netball had dropped slightly in numbers, but was the most popular sport, while cricket had collapsed (nearly 50 per cent fewer were playing in 2020 than in 2000).

These figures only reflect the numbers who played a sport for their school. Those who play the sport informally or non-competitively (neighbourhood basketball, badminton) or play for a club rather than a school (football) are not included.

Rugby too rough for newcomers?

What's happening? Rugby has to compete in a crowded leisure landscape, and there are reputational issues associated with the physicality of the game.

But the changing composition of the New Zealand population is also playing its part.

Immigration has been a major factor in the past 20 years, especially since 2013. We have added about 400,000 to the population from net migration gains - and these communities are not playing rugby. Look at Auckland.

The city is home to a third of all New Zealanders, and more than 40 per cent are immigrants. Thirty per cent are members of Asian communities.

These communities are especially apparent in the school-age population. And they are contributing to the decline in rugby numbers. Rugby participation at secondary schools experienced a 29 per cent drop in one two-year period alone, and a 20 per cent drop in the number of teams.

This is not simply confined to Auckland. In one large Wellington school with 1700 students, there were three rugby teams in 2020.

By 2018, rugby was not even in the top 20 sporting and leisure activities among all Aucklanders surveyed. Football, basketball, golf, table tennis and tennis were.

A decade ago, we were asked to explore the question of "why?". The answers were relatively straightforward: these new immigrant and ethnic minority communities placed much more emphasis on education, they had no prior experience, knowledge or interest in sports like rugby, and they were concerned at how "rough" the sport was.

In the smaller regional centres and rural areas, the numbers available to play rugby are in decline. The predominant reason is the ageing of these populations. In large parts of New Zealand's hinterland, the proportion aged over 65 now outnumbers those aged 15 or less.

There are a lot of ex-rugby players and supporters - but only a small pool of those interested in the sport or able to play. One indicator of population stagnation or decline has been the closure of almost 200 state schools in regional New Zealand since 2000.

In the Waitaki district, home of Richie McCaw, 14 schools have closed since 1990, while a number of others have been amalgamated. Where do the rugby players come from in these districts?

The combination of fewer school-age children and young adult out-migration, combined with the arrival of migrant workers, is simply not providing a sustainable player base.

A glance at the traditional print media or Sky TV, with their extensive coverage of rugby, tends to mask what is happening, both in participation and interest. Have a look online, or at the media that serve ethnic minorities in New Zealand, and a very different picture emerges of what sports attract interest and participation.

A lot has been made about the investment in grassroots and regional rugby that might be possible with the injection of private equity funds.

But surely there is an equally important issue that derives from the changing demography of this country. New Zealand Rugby is aware of the issues but has struggled to engage a younger and more ethnically diverse New Zealand.

• Distinguished Professor Paul Spoonley is a sociologist at Massey University's College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the author of The New New Zealand. Facing Demographic Disruption (Massey University Press, 2020).
• First published by Stuff. Republished with permission.

Others are in their 70s and 80s and say they face a life of fear and isolation if they have to return to their homelands. They're among thousands of people affected by the Government freeze on Immigration New Zealand's parent category.

The policy allowed immigrants whose adult children already had residence or citizenship, to join them - but it was suspended in 2016. Continue reading

Stuff reports, a team of five immigration officials - including one in Europe and another in North America -are still promoting "investor interest in New Zealand" so high net-worth investors can enter the country as soon as the borders re-open.

However, according to the New Zealand Government, priests and religious workers are considered unnecessary to New Zealand.

As well as the courted wealthy, exemptions to COVID border restrictions see fishing guides, beauticians, knitting machine operators, insurance investigators, industrial spray painters, bicycle mechanics and tour guides as exempt border occupations.

The list of exempted occupations also includes civil celebrants.

Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi says he is considering a revamp of the skilled migrant category.

"Decisions around the scope and timing of any such review are currently under consideration. No decisions on settings or planning range have been made at this stage."

Nor have any decisions been made on re-starting the selection of expressions of interest for skilled workers. This will be looked at again by the end of next month, Faafoi says.

Immigration lawyer Elly Fleming has some suggestions for the skilled migrant category review. As an example, it could look at adjusting settings, such as minimum remuneration limits for lower-level skilled jobs, she says.

"It's really difficult to predict what the government's priorities are.

"I think it all depends on what their goal is. If their goal is to make it harder for migrants to get residence, if that's the goal then there are several ways they can go about doing this," she says.

"Or if the goal is to actually fill gaps in the labour market, they can say 'yes, we know there are these shortages, we can't get enough registered nurses, we can't get enough doctors or engineers, let's make it easier for them to get residence'."

Fleming says Australia had been more strategic than New Zealand in assessing its skills needs and getting workers it needed into the country.

Source

• RNZ
• Stuff
• Immigration New Zealand
• Immigration New Zealand
• Archdiocese of Wellington
• Image: Woburn International

Skilled migrants stuck in lengthy queues for residence have been told if they are not eligible for another temporary visa while they wait, they will have to leave.

Anthea Razack, with her husband and two children, applied for residence as a travel agency manager in January 2019.

She wasn't allocated an immigration case officer until 20 months later. One was assigned to her last month - less than a fortnight after being made redundant. Then she saw an email being sent out to advisers and applicants, telling them to leave if they are not eligible for another visa. Read more

The rental market in Wellington was so tough, they said, in this season. Did we have anywhere they could stay? Even if it just was a single room, it would be better than outside.

In another of our churches, a mother with two children is desperate. Her partner, hoping to enter through the refugee family reunification process, lodged his application last December.

Immigration New Zealand has halted the processing of cases until our borders open, and his case sits stagnant in a backlog of cases that has no end date in sight.

At our local port, chaplains working with seafarers are in despair at the epidemic of loneliness, exclusion and mental health issues overwhelming the sailors they interact with.

Many crews orbiting New Zealand ports have already been on their ships for more than a year, three or four months beyond their contracts, and have no repatriation in sight to their home countries.

Unlike airline crews, seafarers from foreign ships are required to have 28 continuous days onboard without symptoms before they will be granted shore leave.

With most ships having no wi-fi, their only contact with home is often through welfare centres such as the Mission to Seafarers. With 90 per cent of New Zealand's imports and exports​ arriving by ship, this group, who contribute significantly to our wellbeing, are forgotten and unloved.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, we have proved that we are a nation that is creative, kind, able to solve complex problems and work together for common good.

Yet since we eradicated community transmission, we have seen some disappointing responses emerge in our reaction to those who are seeking to enter our borders; not based on common good or kindness, but on fear.

Are we really going to turn our backs not even on those who orbit our borders, but on our own citizens, existing and new?

This fear is natural - we want to preserve the safe environment we worked hard for - but the drive for self-preservation is coming at a huge cost for so many vulnerable people.

The kindness we have exhibited as a nation over this year is only as good as our kindness to the most vulnerable.

As a response of gratitude to our team of 5 million, should we hunker down and become insular, or should we be generous with what we have? What is the appropriate response for gratitude?

Our Anglican family (often in partnership with many other national and local faith-based and secular organisations) is working both in front-line and advocacy spaces in this area.

One of the core tenets of our Christian faith, and of all major faiths, is strong teachings to love and embrace others, even those we don't know or love.

We ask that the Government and public institutions embody the principles of kindness and compassion for which Aotearoa became globally known this year. For example:

• Make a public re-commitment to our refugee quotas, within the limitations of current international logistics. The Red Cross has indicated that is well set up to receive people from refugee backgrounds in a quarantine situation in its Mangere centre.
• Take a proactive stance in processing the applications of family reunification cases, rather than waiting until the border reopens to do so. In this way, families can have some certainty and can look forward in hope.
• Make immediate funding available to enable the provision of the basic needs of forgotten seafarers.

Fear is not fair.

We are not asking our government or our citizens to take unnecessary risks.

But using our kindness, compassion and good systems and structures, we can make a huge difference to the lives of those marginalised both within our land, and standing at our gates.

We must not be afraid of countering the narrative that "we need to look after our own".

We might be at the bottom of the world, but we are part of a global community, and we are blessed with an environment and infrastructure that can care well for the deep needs of others when together we think of creative solutions.

The contribution that refugee, migrant and seafaring communities make to our social and economic tapestry is clear, and we must not allow fear and self-interest stand in the way of the values of kindness and compassion.

• Justin Duckworth is the Anglican Archbishop of Wellington. First published in Stuff. Republished with the permission of the author.

Czerny, who has been the under-secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development's Migrants and Refugees Section since 2017, is urging people to develop local solutions to address the needs of immigrant and refugee families around the world.

"There are no global responses, there are only local answers. You see why our Migrants and Refugees Section is most interested in what's going on on the ground, at the borders, on the Mediterranean, in the farm belts…"

Immigrants often fill jobs of an essential nature in their adoptive countries, he points out.

"Who are the orderlies and the cleaning people and who are the support staff in the hospitals? Who are the people who are picking the fruit and vegetables...?"

"Who are the people who are taking care of our elderly or challenged people or other people who need support and care?"

"Many, many, many of them are ...[migrants or refugees], who are here doing the work because it's the work we need."

During the pandemic, governments have severely limited opportunities for migrants and refugees to enter their countries. Some nations, including the United States, have given temporary visas to people who do "essential" jobs like seasonal work or meatpacking.

"Until now, we sort of took them for granted - and some political forces even tried to use them for political advantage," Czerny says.

"But the fact is, they are essential supports for our societies and for our communities and for our families - and suddenly, the COVID-19 spotlight reveals that without the help of these people, we can't go on."

Unfortunately the virus has also made already-vulnerable people become more vulnerable to illness and to exploitation, "whether they are migrants… or asylum seekers, victims of human trafficking or internally displaced people," Czerny says.

Some countries have created pathways for immigrants to receive healthcare, realizing "the virus doesn't distinguish between citizens and migrants. You've got to stop the virus wherever it's spreading." In addition Italy, for example, has announced an amnesty so illegal migrants.

Despite these and other measures, Czerny says the exploitation of undocumented migrants for slave labor is probably going up during lockdown.

He explains that in countries enforcing quarantines a lot of international movement has stopped. However, people in desperate situations continue to try to find work or safety, so some "movement continues, and unfortunately criminal activity continues.

"So, let's not continue this blatant contradiction: saying ‘Yes, let them come and help us,' but, ‘No they're not allowed to come. That doesn't make any sense at all."

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: Vatican News

Zuhaib Abbas Bangash has been feeding the homeless every Sunday from 5.30 pm at his West Auckland shop, Glen Eden Kebab, at Glenmall since November 3.

But the selfless act has been criticised by the Glen Eden Business Association, who Bangash says told him to stop.

Bangash moved to New Zealand eight years ago after he fled Pakistan from the tribal district Parachinar when it came under Taliban control. Continue reading

For three weeks, she helped St. Teresa of Kolkata's Missionary Sisters of Charity, minister to abandoned children, some of whom were severely disabled. They took the children off the streets and cared for them.

"It was a life-changing experience that gave me deeper insight into the preciousness of life," Sister Graciela told The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen.

"Although I knew that I was not called to enter the Missionary Sisters, in the chaos of Calcutta, I felt such a deep peace that awakened in me the desire to become a religious."

A native of the Dominican Republic, she was born in 1985. Her parents are Fior and Rafael Hernandez. She is her mother's only child.

Sugeirys Colon is her older half-sister.

When she was 4, her family moved to New York, first to the Bronx then and later to Manhattan.

In 2007, Sister Graciela earned an undergraduate degree at Fordham University, majoring in political science at Lincoln Center in Manhattan.

A year later, she began working with nonprofit immigration organizations including Wind of the Spirit Immigrant in Morristown, New Jersey.

In 2010, she graduated from the Benjamin N. Cordozo School of Law in New York City and began a career as an immigration lawyer.

Upon returning home from India, she researched various religious communities on the internet and found one that she decided to visit — the Sisters of Christian Charity, Daughters of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception at the Mallinckrodt Convent in Mendham, New Jersey.

Sr Graciela brings compassion to her clients, advocating for the poor and immigrants who often suffer at the hands of unscrupulous attorneys and employers.

Members of the order labour in the fields of education, health care, parish ministry and social justice.

Many work in the Diocese of Metuchen.

"I was drawn to the eucharistic spirituality and joy of the sisters and their enthusiasm. It felt like home to me," she said of the visit.

In August, Sister Graciela pronounced her vows as a Sister of Christian Charity during the Liturgy of the First Profession.

A month later, she began working as a lawyer at the Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen's Immigration Services, in Perth Amboy.

What she likes most about being a religious is being totally dedicated to God and to the service of his people in the church. She brings that sense of compassion to her clients, advocating for the poor and the immigrant who often suffer at the hands of unscrupulous attorneys and employers, and who may not speak English.

Sister Graciela, who speaks Spanish and serves many clients of Hispanic descent, also assists people born in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Catholic Charities serves all regardless of religious affiliation.

As an immigration lawyer, Sister Graciela said it is an advantage being a religious because her clients trust her because of the good experiences that they had with religious sisters.

Clients say, "As soon as I saw you, I knew that everything was going to be fine." Continue reading

"Our founder Jesus Christ was of course not white, middle class and British - he certainly wouldn't have got a visa - unless we're particularly short of carpenters," Welby told the CBI conference in London.

There would have to be a "shortage of carpenters" in Britain for Jesus to be granted entry, Welby said.

The Archbishop was talking as part in a discussion on social inequality chaired by the BBC Business Editor Faisal Islam who shared a clip on his Twitter feed.

Source: The Mirror

The Philippines' ambassador to New Zealand, Jesus Domingo, plans to set up a Filipino labour office in Wellington this year or next.

He hoped there would be regulation of pastoral care to rein in the worst providers of accommodation for temporary workers, and said last month some immigrants were being fleeced. Continue reading

An average of 1.71 children per woman in New Zealand is well below population replacement level and threatens economic growth and the country's social balance and structure.

Population replacement and growth is only coming by way of immigration.

The claims come in "Families: Ever Fewer or No Children, How Worried Should We Be?" - a discussion paper from Family First NZ.

The report's author is Lindsay Mitchell, and in the report she looks at the reasons behind falling fertility, and discusses what might influence future trends.

In the report she attributes the reduction in fertility to

• Government policy
• Better educated females
• Increased female participation in the work force
• Economic pressure
• Pressure from environmentalists to have fewer children
• Ineffective policy interventions to incourage fertility.

As well as looking at the historical context of family size in New Zealand, the report also examines also reviews other countries' efforts to incentivise fertility.

"To date, New Zealand has been complacent about its total fertility rate.

"Firstly because it fluctuated around replacement rate for a long period, and secondly, it was higher than most other OECD countries.'

The report shows that New Zealand's fertility trend is beginning to resemble many other European and Asian nations struggling to boost their fertility rates.

"As New Zealand's fertility rate falls progressively further below population replacement level, the need to address the issue becomes more urgent," Mitchell points out.

"Without population replacement or growth, economies decline," she writes.

Mitchell point sout that a nation's strength lies in its young: their energy, innovation, risk-taking and entrepreneurship and that new blood drives the exchange of ideas and experimentation.

"If these attributes aren't home-grown, they have to be imported," she says.

Looking at the big picture Mitchell sounds a warning, saying that single person households are the fastest growing household type in New Zealand.

"I increasingly people are facing old-age with few or no family support," she writes.

Mitchell says the matter of fertility is critical to New Zealand's future and she encourages people to feature the topic in public and private conversations.

"Ultimately, whether or not people choose to have a child or children is a highly personal matter, but they shouldn't be denied balanced information to help them decide."

• Source: Family First