POLL: NBR readers' take on govt 'boat people' law
The Immigration Amendment Bill would allow mass arrivals of asylum seekers to be detained for up to six months.
The Immigration Amendment Bill would allow mass arrivals of asylum seekers to be detained for up to six months.
The government is right to pass a law which would allow asylum-seekers to be detained, according to NBR ONLINE readers.
In a poll conducted on the NBR website last week, readers were asked: Do you agree with the Immigration Amendment Bill's provision to detain asylum seekers, or "boat people", for six months?
Eighty per cent say yes, while 20% disagreed.
The bill would allow mass arrivals of asylum-seekers – that is 10 or more people – to be detained.
According to Immigration Minister Nathan Guy, this would act as a deterrent, so potential asylum seekers would not see New Zealand as a "soft touch".
While no asylum seekers have ever reached New Zealand by boat, the belief is that if they can reach Australia, which they sometimes do, then New Zealand isn't much further to come.