5. Question No. 5—ImmigrationGOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN (Green) to the Minister of ImmigrationQuestion No. 5—Immigration5. GOLRIZ GHAHRAMAN (Green) to the Minister of Immigration: Will he give effect to New Zealand's commitment to assist in the global refugee crisis with resettlement policies that are safe and inclusive in honour of World Refugee Day this week?Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Immigration) (remote): Firstly I acknowledge both the member asking the question and Ibrahim Omer as two former refugees who now play an important role in this House. Our Government has shown a strong commitment to providing ongoing safe and inclusive pathways for refugees to come to New Zealand and to settle in to our communities. From July 2020 New Zealand's annual refugee quota increased to 1500 individuals; however due to the impact of COVID-19 the quota was only partially met in 2020/21. We've also expanded the number of refugee families able to be reunited with their loved ones by doubling the refugee family support category from 300 to 600 places as of July 2022—that's next month. Since then we've also responded quickly to support people fleeing conflicts by opening up over 1600 places to refugees from Afghanistan and creating the 2022 Special Ukraine Visa to provide a safe pathway for those seeking refuge from Ukraine following Russia's invasion. We stand by our commitment to provide the best possible refugee resettlement experience by ensuring that we're providing certainty stability and wraparound support for people being resettled in Aotearoa New Zealand.Golriz Ghahraman: Will the Minister commit to ensuring New Zealand resettles 1500 people—our full annual refugee quota commitment—in this year's resettlement round for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: As I confirmed at the World Refugee Day event at Parliament earlier this week that is indeed the Government's intention and we will be very pleased to be able to reach that target after two years of significant disruptions due to COVID-19. Of course it is always the case in the challenging international circumstances that we find that there could be disruptions but that is absolutely our intention.Golriz Ghahraman: Will the Minister commit to us filling all 600 annual placements for family members being reunified with their refugee loved ones here who are separated by war or persecution—a Green Party win in doubling that number last term—SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member's just used her supplementary by being out of order. Golriz Ghahraman: Sorry.SPEAKER: If the member wants a further supplementary she can have it now.Golriz Ghahraman: Will the Minister commit to filling the 600 annual placements for family members separated by war or persecution including using the funding set aside last term and will he commit to backfilling those numbers left behind due to the COVID pandemic both in the quota and the family reunification programme? Hon MICHAEL WOOD: In respect of family resettlement I expect that that will be somewhat dependent on the number of applications that are made within that category although it's a reasonable assumption that it will be somewhere near the maximum cap that we are providing for. So we'll just have to see how that goes but I do expect that there will be a large number of applications made through that process. In respect of backfilling I have to be somewhat more cautious in that one of the key things about New Zealand's resettlement programme is that we do focus on a quality resettlement outcome—we fund that we provide that through the Māngere resettlement centre and other support services and were we to effectively increase the numbers coming in over the coming years yeah we would potentially compromise on the quality of that resettlement. So we don't expect to be doing that. Golriz Ghahraman: Will the Minister commit to extending the same legal rights and resettlement support to convention refugees who arrive here as asylum seekers as those arriving as quota refugees?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: As the member will be aware there are different processes that apply to both of those groups but we in New Zealand do ensure that we have an appropriate response that is cognisant of our human rights and international obligations in terms of how we respond to requests for asylum in New Zealand. Golriz Ghahraman: Will he commit to implementing the recommendations of the recent Casey report by banning detention of refugee applicants who then become convention refugees in criminal prisons?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: That report is being considered by myself and Cabinet colleagues and I hope to be able to confirm our position in the near future. I would note that in recent years the number of detentions has significantly reduced and I believe that's positive.