Asian and Pasifika migrants 'at risk' of drowning due to lack of local knowledge

Tuesday, 29 March 2022

New Zealand's drowning problem is more than a disturbing statistic.

Asian and Pacific migrants are “at risk” of death by drowning in Auckland due to a lack of local knowledge, experts say.

Out of the 387 preventable drowning deaths in New Zealand in the past five years, most were Asian and Pasifika migrants, said Harry Aonga from Drowning Prevention Auckland.

In Auckland alone, there have been 85 preventable drownings since 2017. Of the people who died, 42 per cent were of Asian or Pacific descent – 18 each for each ethnic group.

However, Aonga said there were not enough people to help educate the ethnic groups about the dangers New Zealand waters hold.

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Half of the preventable drownings in Auckland are Pasifika and Asian migrants. (File photo)

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“We are a small team, we’re only touching the surface, and we’re not really reaching the whole of the Auckland region,” he said.

Aonga confirmed that with Pasifika people, most drownings are due to boating activities as it is a priority in their culture to “go boating because they need to get the food for their family”.

He said that they are “putting themselves at risk straight away” when they use boats because many aren’t aware of good practice or “don’t understand the importance of keeping themselves safe”.

For Asian communities, many of the drownings are from land-based activities such as rock and crab fishing.

Drowning Prevention Auckland said that the two ethnic groups are “high risk” due to a lack of education. (File photo)

He said that the lack of education in water safety is main reason as to why Asian and Pacific people are at most risk of drowning.

“They are not educated around what New Zealand waters are, the dangers of the aquatic environments here in New Zealand in comparison to where they are coming from,” he said.

Lynn Tao, a member of the Browns Bay Chinese community, said that for the Asian community, many of them believe that because they are fishing from the land, they are safe.

She said for the Chinese community there is “no such knowledge to equip us”.

In the Pacific Islands the water is more calm and warm, which in New Zealand translates to a rip, a dangerous current of water that can sweep people out to sea, which they may think is a “safe spot”.

“The exposure and the closeness and the vicinity of the water in Auckland, in particular, people can access water pretty easily,” he said.

Compared to Asia, some areas involve a “huge trek to get to any form of water”, making the waters in New Zealand a huge risk as it is accessible for anyone.

To prevent the increase in the toll for the ethnic groups, Drowning Prevention Auckland provides lessons and workshops to encourage migrants to understand New Zealand waters.

But Aonga said people need to “make good decisions in and around water and not overestimating their ability”.

Drowning Prevention Auckland has worked with Bethells, Muriwai and Piha to provide translation on their signage into Chinese and Korean and aim to work more on translated signs.

Auckland has more than 80 beaches.

With borders opening up and the relaxing of restrictions, Aonga said there is “only the possibility of an increase in drowning within those communities”.