Scoop: HRC: On the Bright Side

Scoop: HRC: On the Bright Side: "For the multi-lingual road rules booklet, September 2005. Land Transport New Zealand has produced an easy to read booklet in eight languages (English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Fijian, Samoan, Hindi and Malay) to assist long term visitors and new residents to come to grips with New Zealand's road rules.

The booklet will be distributed with information packs sent to new migrants by the Immigration Service and also be available through English language schools, secondary and tertiary institutions, and refugee and migrant orientation courses, and Citizens Advice Bureaux. The booklet is also available online at www.landtransport.govt.nz/overseasdrivers/.

If you would like to nominate a person or an organisation for acknowledgment please email positive.contribution@hrc.co.nz with the details.

For information about race relations visit the Human Rights Commission website www.hrc.co.nz . Keynote papers from the recent New Zealand Diversity Forum at Te Papa are now available at www.hrc.co.nz/forum. Also now available in hard copy are limited numbers of the Commission's review, Race Relations in 2004."

Risky visa applications reassessed

STUFF : POLITICS - STORY : New Zealand's leading news and information website: Risky visa applications reassessed: "Immigration officials will spend two years checking 20,000 high-risk visas to complete a Government-ordered review.

Staff have so far reassessed about 150 visa applications and face a mammoth task under the review, which was sparked by revelations in May that Iraqi men linked to Saddam Hussein's regime were in New Zealand.

Labour Department workforce deputy secretary Mary Anne Thompson said the cases of an estimated 20,000 applicants over the past two years, all of whom were in New Zealand, were being reviewed by a risk assessment team.

Some cases were automatically included in the review because of their country of origin. Others were being reviewed because other elements of risk had been identified, such as 'character', which could include possible links to groups with a history of human rights abuses.

Ms Thompson said many immigrants would have applied for visas more than once during the past two years – meaning the number of people represented would be lower than 20,000. Others would be children.

She estimated the actual number would be between 3000 and 4000, but it was not possible to know till reviews had been completed.

Immigration had so far reviewed about 150 cases and had not found any concerns."