18 October 2021
Ref: DOIA 2122-0669
M. Lee
[FYI request #16815 email]
Dear M. Lee,
Thank you for your email of 20 September 2021 to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
(MBIE) requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following information:
The number of refugees that have entered NZ by month since March 2020 and the number of MIQ
rooms taken up by refugees.
New Zealand is one of around 37 countries that take part in the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) regular resettlement programme. The refugees who have entered New Zealand since
March 2020 have all come through this programme.
118 refugees arrived in New Zealand in March 2020. None of these refugees entered Managed Isolation
and Quarantine (MIQ) as they entered the country before the border closed on 20 March 2020.
From 20 March 2020 to 10 February 2021, refugees gained rooms in MIQ through the Emergency
Allocation process. The details of these arrivals and the number of rooms allocated to them is laid out
below.
Refugee Quota Programme Arrivals
20 March 2020 to 10 February 2021
Month of Arrival
Number of
Number of
in New Zealand
Individual
Rooms MIQ
Refugees
Allocated
October 2020
8
5
November 2020
20
9
December 2020
3
3
January 2021
19
6
February 2021
1
1
After 10 February 2021, refugees entering New Zealand were allocated MIQ rooms through the Group
Allocation process. Details of the number of refugees and the number of MIQ rooms allocated through
this process can be found a
t: www.miq.govt.nz/travel-to-new-zealand/secure-your-place-in-managed-
isolation/group-allocations/ Therefore we are refusing this part of your request under section 18(d) of the
Act, as the information requested is publicly available.
The people who were recently evacuated from Afghanistan did not enter New Zealand under the Refugee
Quota. They were either already New Zealand residents and citizens, Afghan nationals who held New
Zealand visas, or Afghan nationals who had worked for New Zealand agencies, so these figures are not
included in the information you requested.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. Information
about this process is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Russell Burnard
Acting General Manager MIQ National Operations Services
Managed Isolation and Quarantine