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New Zealand Urged To End 'Racist' Immigration Policy

Phil Mercer

   SYDNEY - Human rights advocates have urged lawmakers in New Zealand to
   drop regulations preventing the resettlement of refugees from Africa
   and the Middle East unless they already have family members living in
   the country.

   The measures were introduced by the previous center-right government in
   2010, due in part to security concerns as New Zealand focused on
   facilitating immigration from Asia.

   Campaigners say the policy is discriminatory and undermines the
   integrity of a nation that has been praised for its response to deadly
   mosque attacks in March, when a lone gunman murdered 51 people and
   wounded dozens more in the city of Christchurch. Refugees from Syria
   and Somalia were among the victims.

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