We are leading the refresh of the 2 strategies that support refugees and migrants. These are the Pacific Peoples New Zealand Refugee Resettlement Strategy and the New Zealand Migrant Settlement and Integration Strategy.

The 2 strategies are around 10 years old. We are refreshing them to make sure they are up-to-date and continue to effectively support successful settlement in the future.

The refresh will focus on reviewing the success indicators of both strategies to ensure they are still fit-for-purpose. We want these indicators to better reflect successful settlement outcomes sought by government and communities. The refresh will explore the categories of refugees and migrants covered under each strategy.

NZ Refugee Resettlement Strategy

For the NZ Refugee Resettlement Strategy this will include exploring other refugee cohorts, such as convention refugees.

Migrant Strategy

For the Migrant Strategy this will include exploring previous recommendations to improve settlement support for migrants under the Samoa Quota and Pacific Access Category. At this point, we do not expect to extend coverage of the Migrant Strategy to temporary migrants, however further work to support temporary migrants may happen after the refresh.

The objectives of the refresh are to:

Deliver updated national strategies that better support refugees and migrants, that are aligned with government goals.
Strengthen the success indicators for both strategies and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of data collection that underpins the indicators.
Develop new measures if necessary, for the outcome areas and success indicators.
Propose priority areas for implementation of both strategies over the next 5 years.

Have your say

If you are from any of the below groups we encourage you to participate:

• former refugees
• migrants
• pacific peoples.

Individuals and organisations who engage with these groups are also invited to participate. This could include:

• settlement providers
• Tangata Whenua / Māori
• NGOs
• advocacy groups
• educators
• employers
• work mates, friends etc.

How to participate

There are 3 ways you can engage in the refresh:

1. Attend a Settlement Strategy Engagement Session

Come to an engagement session and share your experiences. Tell us what you think successful settlement looks like. What works? What doesn’t? What should change? There are several sessions taking place across Aotearoa New Zealand. These sessions began in mid-July and will continue to late August. They are open to all stakeholders and community members to attend. Visit the NZ Migrant Settlement Integration Strategy and NZ Refugee Resettlement Strategy Refresh Project page for more information.

2. Complete the Settlement Strategy questionnaire

You can fill in a questionnaire if you cannot make a face-to-face or online session, or if you prefer to write. It covers similar topics as the engagement sessions. You can tell us as much or as little as you would like, and you can complete the questionnaire as an individual or as a small group. The questionnaire will be available in English from 5 August. The questionnaire will be available in Arabic, Farsi, Dari, Spanish, Samoan, Tongan, Burmese and Chinese from mid-August. Visit the NZ Migrant Settlement Integration Strategy and NZ Refugee Resettlement Strategy Refresh Project page for more information.

3. Participate in a co-design workshop

Using what you tell us at the engagement sessions and questionnaires, we will be running co-design workshops in 5 locations across Aotearoa New Zealand in late September. At the workshops we will work together to develop recommendations that will be passed onto government. Visit the NZ Migrant Settlement Integration Strategy and NZ Refugee Resettlement Strategy Refresh Project page for more information.

All feedback is completely voluntary and responses will be kept anonymous. Any recommended changes will go through the Inter-Agency Working Group before seeking ministerial and cabinet approval at the end of 2022. Changes will come into effect in 2023.

More information can be found on the NZ Migrant Settlement Integration Strategy and NZ Refugee Resettlement Strategy Refresh Project page.

The NZ Migrant Settlement Integration Strategy and NZ Refugee Resettlement Strategy Refresh Project