Immigration to essential harvest workers: go home

Sunday, 28 June 2020

Immigration New Zealand have encouraged essential overseas grape harvest to go home.

Overseas workers who can't leave the country want to continue working in Marlborough, but are stuck using food vouchers due to their visa restrictions.

One worker, who asked to stay anonymous to protect his job prospects, said he went into a meeting with Immigration NZ expecting good news, but left feeling used as an essential worker no longer needed.

The Zoom call with about 200 harvest workers, Marlborough employers and government officials, on June 17, was intended to update workers whose visas were about to expire.

'We expected maybe something good about our visa conditions … [but] the woman from Immigration started talking to us and the first thing she said to us was, 'find a way to go home',' the worker said.

The wine industry was deemed essential during New Zealand's nationwide lockdown.

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He had planned to leave New Zealand anyway, but with no flights currently available to his homeland, he was stuck.

Marlborough Civil Defence's Catherine Coates and Brian Paton have been supporting 20 overseas workers.

'Why let us work during lockdown? It was because they needed us, it was essential work for the country.

'And now we are asking for jobs that we know Kiwis don't want to do, like pruning. Right now, if I could, I would take a flight back home, but there are no flights back home.

'It feels like they used us, and now they're not even giving us a chance to stay.'

Most harvest workers were on an essential skills visa, which linked them to their employer, job title and region.

Wine Marlborough general manager Marcus Pickens said Immigration NZ's 'one size fits all' policy was wrong and that the visa conditions should be loosened.

Workers could reapply for a visa, but the harvest worker said they were told at the meeting the chances of having it approved were slim.

Marlborough Civil Defence welfare manager Catherine Coates said they were currently supporting 20 people with vouchers that enabled them to shop for food and other household supplies.

'We can also direct people to the Temporary Accommodation Service offered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, if they need accommodation,' Coates said.

Civil Defence Marlborough emergency services manager Brian Paton said he recognised that trying to get back to their home countries was 'just not an option at the moment'.

'We're currently looking after some people at the moment that just don't have any income any more.

The Chief Executive of New Zealand Wine Growers Phillip Gregan says grapes will have to stay on the vines while the safety of vineyard workers can be assured.

'The difficult thing for them is that most of them want to still work, these people could be helping, because most Kiwis don't want to be working in vineyards. These guys are young, fit and keen.'

Wine Marlborough general manager Marcus Pickens said they had advocated for a change in the immigration policy to allow overseas workers to continue to work, for some time.

'We've tried everything. In Marlborough’s situation we have the work, these people are willing to work, we want them to work, and we also think it is better for their own welfare and wellbeing to be active and physically have a purpose by going to work,' Pickens said.

'That would be the best outcome, rather than sitting thinking, they can’t leave, but they also can’t work.'

He felt the Government had made the wrong decision in not loosening visa conditions because Marlborough had the jobs available, unlike other regions.

'It’s a blanket policy of one size fits all, which is disappointing.'

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) border and visa operations general manager Nicola Hogg said INZ understood the impacts Covid-19 was having on some migrants and their employment.

'On Wednesday 17 June, INZ met virtually with employers and employees in the Marlborough wine industry, to provide further support and information about the options available to them,' Hogg said.

'In general, our advice to people who are here from overseas, who are not currently employed, and are experiencing financial difficulty during Covid-19 is to talk to their embassy or consulate for assistance.

'Temporary visa holders who are in New Zealand and who have a visa expiring on 25 September are encouraged to consider making plans to return home, or to apply for a further visa allowing them to continue working in New Zealand.

'INZ is aware that flights out of New Zealand are limited at this time, and we encourage migrants in this situation to register with and seek support from their embassy or consulate.'

A spokesperson from the Department of Internal Affairs said from July 1, the Assistance for Foreign Nationals Impacted by Covid-19 Programme would launch and continue the assistance provided by the Civil Defence and Emergency Management Groups.

'The programme will provide short-term assistance for people on temporary visas until they find means of supporting themselves in New Zealand or are able to return home.'

The Department of Internal Affairs planned to work with a community-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) to deliver the programme. The NGO would be announced soon.

'In-kind assistance will be provided to eligible people to help meet basic needs, such as food and accommodation. Assistance will be made directly to third-parties, such as landlords or power companies, no cash payments will be made.'