Please think of me as genderless as adding gender can create bias! I am no different from any other migrant who dreams of new horizons, and life quality moved to Aotearoa. I am no different from any other migrant who struggled to find their feet in a new country; everyone does that- correct? Migrating is primarily a choice, and following a due course to be a permanent part of the place you have chosen to migrate is an obligation. Hence you abide by the law, rules, struggle with jobs, finances, pay massive taxes, contribute to society, economy, put in all your efforts and maybe even your life's savings to call a place home, knowing and understanding that as a migrant you are temporary. Yet you do all of that, why- because you believe in the system. You believe in the fairness of policies, and especially in Aotearoa, you believe in diversification, compassion, and trust. Question to you, honorable Prime Minister Jacinda Arden - how are we offshore stranded migrants for no fault of ours different than the team of 5 million and different to those onshore migrants who have been given a pathway to a one-off residency program.
Dear immigration minister Kris Faafoi, we- the offshore stranded migrants, request you to allow us back into the country despite our visa status permanently. Most of us have lived in NZ for over three years; we have invested our most productive years of life and all our finances into calling NZ our home, so when you can now help us, you show partial compassion to just a few. These are not the ethics and morals of at least labour ruling government.
Mr. Minister, many of us have already lost our visas and jobs for no fault of ours. Pandemic is a global situation, and we understand that, if given a pathway to return to NZ, we are happy to wait until it is safe for NZ to open its borders and allow us in. We all had valid visas when we departed NZ, and they became invalid due to the pandemic. Many of us had our employers keep jobs open for them, as we were resources they couldn't give up, but pandemic forced them to eventually remove people from jobs, our savings, our little assets we had created in NZ everything got snatched away from us due to pandemic. We may not be kiwis on paper, but we all are kiwis at heart, which are not different from the team of 5 million onshore as we, too, for many, many years, have contributed to the NZ society and economy. We are broken mentally, emotionally, financially with no clear pathway, and request you to include us to come back to NZ permanently.