The GDP has been unable to find any reports indicating that authorities have taken measures to assist migrants and asylum seekers, including those in detention. Visits to prisons have been suspended in New Zealand from 19 March 2020. Authorities had already taken some health and hygiene measures last year due to a measles epidemic which happened in Mt Eden and in the women’s prison in Auckland. However, from 27 March 2020, prisons were placed on “level-four lockdown” and two inmates at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison are in isolation amidst fears they may have contracted the coronavirus – but one has refused to be tested.
New Zealand’s immigration department has announced that given that the country is in a State of Emergency due to the Covid-19 crisis, the Refugee Status Unit office is closed until further notice. Scheduled interviews are cancelled and document processing is on hold.
- S. Forbes, “Coronavirus: Real Concerns Over Covid-19’s Impact on Prisons,” Stuff, 19 March 2020, www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120383374/coronavirus-real-concerns-over-covid19s-impact-on-prisons
- G. Espiner, “Prisoner refuses Covid-19 test”, RNZ, 27 March 2020, https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/covid-19/412781/prisoner-refuses-covid-19-test
- New Zealand Immigration, “Refugee Status Unit Processing update Covid-19”, accessed on 3 April 2020, https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/covid-19/migrant-information
- Global Detention Project, Immigration Detention in New Zealand, www.globaldetentionproject.org/countries/asia-pacific/new-zealand
