Government shifts more responsibility for refugees to community organisations

The government is shifting more responsibility for refugees to community organisations, funding them to support a greater proportion of the 1500 accepted into the country every year.

Under the Community Organisation Refugee Sponsorship scheme - piloted in 2018 and then twice extended - approved organisations help settle about 50 refugees a year into housing, employment and education, while Immigration New Zealand takes care of processing, health checks and international travel.

In an announcement at Parliament on Wednesday, Associate Immigration Minister Casey Costello said the programme would be made permanent from the start of July and scaled up to 200 spaces a year later.

"The strength of the programme lies in the human connection - communities providing practical support, a sense of belonging, and helping people find their feet from day one," Costello said.

"We've seen families welcomed into communities, supported into housing and employment, and quickly becoming part of everyday life in New Zealand.

"That is the key to a successful refugee programme - it isn't just about providing refuge, it is about ensuring people can settle well and feel that they have a new home."

Costello said the scheme would continue to operate alongside the primary humanitarian pathway, the Refugee Quota Programme, with the overall intake remaining at 1500.

Places would be progressively allocated to the community sponsorship pathway as it scaled up, with the Quota Programme adjusted accordingly.

"In the current environment, this is the best way to ensure a programme that we know works well can continue into the future," Costello said.

Speaking to RNZ, Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March described the announcement as "window-dressing" and a "convenient way" for the coalition to abdicate its responsibility to refugees.

He said the community programme was important but called for it to be funded on top of the 1500 quota.

"The government is turning its back on the reality that more people are displaced than ever before."

Costello said New Zealand accepted the third largest number of UNHCR mandated refugees internationally, behind Canada and Australia.