9. Question No. 9—ImmigrationDr JAMES McDOWALL (ACT) to the Minister of ImmigrationQuestion No. 9—Immigration9. Dr JAMES McDOWALL (ACT) to the Minister of Immigration: What communications if any has he received from Afghan translators who live in New Zealand about bringing their families to New Zealand and what actions is he taking as a result?Hon KRIS FAAFOI (Minister of Immigration): I have received a number of communications from Afghan translators who live in New Zealand setting out their concern for their community and their family members who remain in Afghanistan. Understandably these concerns have heightened as a result of the fall of the Afghan Government. Many of them are seeking pathways for their family members to join them here in New Zealand since the emergency evacuation window for getting people out of Afghanistan closed. They've also turned to what more New Zealand can do to assist in the plight of people still in Afghanistan and our focus remains very much on those who are included in Cabinet's criteria. Immigration New Zealand is working alongside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the New Zealand Defence Force who in turn are discussing with international partners how to help others leave Afghanistan. Consideration is also being given to short- and longer-term support services for individuals who have recently arrived. We know the situation in Afghanistan is volatile and I'm expecting advice from officials on what additional support New Zealand can offer shortly.Dr James McDowall: Has he met with the Afghan translators waiting outside Parliament for him and if not why not?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I don't meet all the groups that come to Parliament to make their point but what I would say is that the letters that they have sent me have been received—certainly the ones in the last 24 hours—and their message has been heard. The priority of the Government as I said in my primary answer is to assist people who are very much in a similar situation to them when they were allowed to come to New Zealand—those who assisted agencies in Afghanistan and their immediate families. It has been a very challenging situation to evacuate all of those people back as well as New Zealand citizens and residents. As I've said we are currently looking at what other options we can to make sure we can assist those who are also looking to leave Afghanistan.Dr James McDowall: How is the Minister able to spend 10 minutes sitting in the debating chamber before question time today joking with other MPs while the Afghan translators continue to wait for him outside?SPEAKER: Order! Order! David Seymour: Point of order Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker the Minister has said that his time does not allow him to meet. I think that the question from the member is perfectly in order and reasonable.SPEAKER: Well the member might be of that view but what we do not do in this House is question members as to their movements around the buildings on the way to and in the Chamber before question time. It's been a longstanding convention of the House.Dr James McDowall: Can the Minister guarantee that action will be taken to expedite the visas of translators' relatives and if so when?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I'll point the member to my earlier answer—that the Government is focused on making sure that we can get New Zealand residents and citizens who are in Afghanistan home and also those who are within the strict Cabinet criteria while the evacuation window was open. We are also considering what other options we might be able to take in order to assist other people who would like to leave Afghanistan. Those decisions have not yet been made.Dr James McDowall: Does the Minister understand that relatives of Afghan translators who helped Kiwi soldiers are under constant threat of persecution by the Taliban and what will he do to uphold the principles of kindness this Government has set itself?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: The Government takes very seriously its values of kindness which is why we are making sure that we take a very measured approach to the assistance that we offer those people that we have prioritised. One of those things that we have to make sure that we do as I said both to select committees and publicly is that we have to make sure that we have the ability to resettle these people who might have come from Afghanistan in a first-class way. We're working through some of those issues and we hope to be able to do that to make sure we can help the plight of some of those people still in Afghanistan.