On World Refugee Day, the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network presented a petition to the New Zealand Parliament calling for a Rainbow Refugee quota, that would set aside some of the 1,500 Refugee quota places each year specifically for Rainbow refugees.

Rainbow Path supports identifying and implementing safer and faster pathways for Rainbow refugees and asylum seekers’ resettlement in Aotearoa. A Rainbow quota is only one of the potential solutions needed, and is only as good as the measures complementing it. To be effective it would require meaningful participation of Rainbow refugees at every step of its design and implementation. This is vital to ensure that proposals will actually work for Rainbow refugees.

To be sustainable, a Rainbow Refugee quota will also require supporting and funding Rainbow community organisations in Aotearoa, especially those led by Rainbow refugees and migrants, so they are able to support asylum seekers and refugees when they arrive and through their ongoing resettlement process.

It is also unlikely that a Rainbow quota would be developed in the short term, so any commitment to explore this option must not be used as a panacea to prevent the use of existing levers to speedily and safely resettle Rainbow refugees here.

August 31st is the last day of Parlaiment before this year’s election. So it is uncertain what progress this petition will make in that limited timeframe. If it is referred to a Select Committee, the Committee might seek further details from submitters and could potentially issue a report with recommendations.