Close message

Services to Schools

Refugees

Disasters, climate change and war force people to flee and resettle in other countries. Explore refugee survival stories and the resettlement programmes of the United Nations, and New Zealand Red Cross for these displaced people. SCIS no. 1808408

Filter by media type

Display as

Refugee children

Refugee children

Painting of refugee children by Frances Hodgkins.

First Syrian refugees to start new lives in Wellington

First Syrian refugees to start new lives in Wellington

Article about the first Syrian refugees in New Zealand.

Enatha Musabe's story

Enatha Musabe's story

Story of Enatha Musabe who was born in Rwanda but fled to Kenya to escape the Civil War.

Refugees

Refugees living in New Zealand

Boys' dormitory at Polish children's refugee camp

Boys' dormitory at Polish children's refugee camp

Interior of boys' dormitory at Polish children's refugee camp, Pahiatua. Shows boys lying a row of beds, with an unidentified woman standing at far end. Photograph taken by John Dobree Pascoe, 1945...

Tsunami

Cartoon referring to World Aid’s response to the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.

Eat your cake: I'm a Vietnamese refugee

Eat your cake: I'm a Vietnamese refugee

This documentary follows refugee Mitchell Pham from a Vietnam War prison camp to New Zealand.

Polish Refugees

Polish Refugees

Neverland

Digital cartoon by Sharon Murdoch depicting Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, holding a refugee infant in his arms, and singing a lullaby about her being resettled to the remote island o...

Sam's story - a sense of belonging

Sam's story - a sense of belonging

This is the story of Sam’s journey as a refugee from Cambodia to Aotearoa.

Pahīatua's 'Little Poland'

Pahīatua's 'Little Poland'

Dubbed 'Little Poland', a camp outside Pahīatua was home to over 700 Polish children displaced by the Second World War. The young refugees, mostly orphans who had survived the harsh conditions of c...

Pensement du vaccin par "Hatoun" la Refugee

Pensement du vaccin par "Hatoun" la Refugee

A European man wearing a pith helmet is offering vaccinations to refugees near Cario, Egypt.

New Zealand's first refugees: Pahiatua's Polish children

A book about New Zealand's first Refugees.

Naturalisation certificate

Naturalisation certificate

This naturalisation certificate was issued to Polish refugee Aleksander Niedaszkowski at Petone, Wellington, in 1959.

Refugees: New Zealand as a haven

An article about refugees coming to New Zealand.

Evacuees from Vietnam, at Whenuapai aerodrome

Evacuees from Vietnam, at Whenuapai aerodrome

Evacuees from Saigon, Vietnam, arriving at Whenuapai Aerodrome, Auckland, 23 April 1975. Shows a group walking from a RNZAF Hercules. Includes Peter Scott and his wife. Photographer unidentified. ...

Chinese refugees

1939 Newspaper article about Chinese refugees.

World Refugee Day celebrations

World Refugee Day celebrations

Celebrations of World Refugee Day, Wellington, NZ. Photographed by Farah Omar, 2009

The refugee tide

The refugee tide

Cartoon by Garrick Tremain about the refugee tide.

Vietnamese boat people

Vietnamese boat people

Image of Vietnamese boat people.

Migrant and refugee organisations: Early migrant organisations

Article about early migrant organisations.

Up-up-from the dark depths of my soul. Sail forth!

Up-up-from the dark depths of my soul. Sail forth!

Cartoon referring to Australia’s boat people.

Ethiopian refugees reunite

Ethiopian refugees reunite

Ethiopian refugees reunite at Wellington Airport after being apart for 15 months.

Crowd greeting Polish refugees

Crowd greeting Polish refugees

Crowd of men women and children standing next to railway line to greet Polish refugees on their journey from Wellington to Pahiatua. Location is unidentified, signage in background advertises Mauri...

UN profoundly concerned by Australian boat people ban

UN profoundly concerned by Australian boat people ban

The UN says it is profoundly concerned by Australia's proposed ban on boat people.

Refugees from Mexico

Refugees from Mexico

Newspaper article about American refugees, from 1912.

Climate refugees

Climate refugees

Climate refugee Ioane Teitiota sought asylum in NZ.

Migrants and refugees

Migrants and refugees

A table that shows the contrasts between the experiences of refugees and migrants to a new country.

Somali refugee children,

Somali refugee children,

Somali refugee children playing in Lower Hutt, photographed circa 15 September 1995 by Craig Simcox. Shows two boys and a girl playing outside with a toy car and a toy motorbike. From left to right...

Cambodian refugees learning to ride bicycles in Waikanae

Cambodian refugees learning to ride bicycles in Waikanae

Cambodian refugees photographed learning to ride bicycles in Waikanae on 29 November 1995 by Evening Post staff photographer Melanie Burford. Original Evening Post caption reads: "Three Cambodian ...

Asian refugees from Uganda arriving at Wellington airport

Asian refugees from Uganda arriving at Wellington airport

Original Evening Post caption reads: "Jasmine, held by her father, Mr Jagdish Patel, and Kamal, carried by Mrs Patel, with Mr and Mrs Mahendra Thaker, New Zealand's first Government-sponsored Asian...

Italian refugees

Italian refugees

Familiar sights to NZ soldiers now in the line in Italy are these refugees from villages made untenable as the front line moves forward in World War II. Photograph taken on 10 December 1943 by Geor...

Somali mother and son reunited in New Zealand

Somali mother and son reunited in New Zealand

Somalian refugees, Maryam Sugulle and her eight year old son, Mohamud who had just arrived in Wellington after two years separation from his family. Photographed by Evening Post photographer John ...

Māngere Refugee Resettlement Centre

Māngere Refugee Resettlement Centre

Bhutanese refugees pose outside a building at the Māngere Refugee Resettlement Centre in South Auckland in 2008. The centre started life as a Second World War military camp before becoming an immig...

Refugees or migrants: What's in a word?

When 71 people are found dead in a parked truck in Austria, and on the same day, dozens are feared drowned after a boat capsizes off Libya, do semantics matter?

Refugee’s story (Evening Post, 30 September 1937)

A New Zealander, Mrs. C. F. Taylor, arrived by the Neptuna this morning as a refugee from Shanghai.

Taranaki refugees (Lyttelton Times, 15 August 1860)

Reports on families are being removed from the Taranaki province for military reasons.

Jewish refugees (Evening Post, 03 July 1945)

Concern expressed at a RSA resolution favouring the deportation from New Zealand of Jewish refugees.

Belgian refugees in the First World War

Belgian refugees in the First World War

A Belgian woman and two children sitting amongst ruins of Malines after the German occupation of the town, December 1914.

Life can be very tough for refugees as they are forced to leave their homes and everything they are familiar with. This change can be very difficult, so there are a number of organisations that pro...

Polish refugee children

Polish refugee children

Peter Fraser (then Prime Minister) and Countess Wodzicka (far left) greet Polish refugee children who have just arrived in Wellington on board the ship General Randall in 1944. These World War II r...

Robert Mugabe

‘Tyrant’, ‘dictator’, ‘threat’ are all words that have been used to describe Robert Mugabe the president of Zimbabwe. Over the past nine years more than two million people have fled Zimbabwe and ha...

Jewish child refugees from Germany receiving medical attention on their arrival

Jewish child refugees from Germany receiving medical attention on their arrival

Throughout history people have been forced to leave their homeland to escape persecution. The causes have been many; religion, race gender, association with particular social groups. During World W...

A Somali refugee family

A Somali refugee family

The first Somali refugees came to New Zealand in 1993. Over the last 15 or so years, a large number of refugees entering New Zealand (like Abdi Mohamed, his wife and 11 children in the above photog...

Child in a Japanese refugee camp, China

Child in a Japanese refugee camp, China

When people can no longer live in their country due to violence, persecution or natural disaster they often flee and stay in refugee camps. These camps are mostly run by NGO organisations such as t...

Julia Gillard's in difficulty out there...

Julia Gillard's in difficulty out there...

Australia has one of the strictest refugee and asylum seekers policies Refugees are required to stay in offshore detention centres before being allowed into Australia. In 2016 there were approximat...

Peter, A refugee's story in South Sudan

Story of Peter, a refugee who first fled Sudan for Ethiopia when he was a child.

The UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency) works to protect and assist all refugees.

Fifty most populous refugee camps

This website profiles 50 of the largest refugee camps in the world.

The European refugee crisis and Syria explained

Why is the refugee crisis all over the news? How is this related to Syria? Why should we care at all?

What does it mean to be a refugee?

Video about what does it mean to be a refugee.

Syrian refugee crisis

These are the most powerful photographs of the Syrian refugee crisis In 2015.

Environmental refugees

Climate change and environmental degradation are likely to trigger increased migration in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Refugee Quota Branch (resettlement statistics

This data shows how many people arrive in New Zealand, according to their nationality and country.

‘Open Homes – Open Borders – Aotearoa’ started as a response to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in front of our eyes.

Negative views of minorities and refugees

Attitudes toward Muslims and refugees loom large in Europe, and this is reflected in current public opinion.

Refugee housing

Ideas for housing refugees.

What happened to history’s refugees?

People have been forced to leave their countries since the very notion of a country was created.

First World War inquiry guide: looking Back, Looking Forward Y 9 - 10

This New Zealand curriculum inquiry guide has a section on refugees.

EPIC provides up to date online information on the topic, refugees. School login is required.

Don't demonize refugees, U.N. says, as poll reveals negative attitude

A global poll revealed 60 percent of people thought Islamic extremists were posing as refugees.

The Flight of refugees around the globe

Article about the travel patterns of refugees around the world.

Europe's refugee crisis explained

An explanation of the European migration crisis.

Syrian refugee camps

Syrian refugee camps are becoming established cities.

Refugee art gallery

Refugee Art Project helps to facilitate art and self-expression in asylum seeker and refugees.

Refugee Olympic team

News articles about the Refugee Olympic Team.

Life in a refugee camp

Lesson plan related to raising awareness of life in a refugee camp.

Meet the world's first climate refugees

This is a story about people who stand to lose everything.

Joseph Kim: The family I lost in North Korea. And the family I gained.

A refugee now living in the US tells the story of his life in North Korea.

A Tour of 5 refugee camps

Take an interactive tour to see how refugees in Greece are making homes in surprising places.

A community group that provides mental health services to New Zealand refugees.

Global trends forced displacement in 2015

International data related to refugees.

Figure.NZ: refugees

Presents figures on refugees granted New Zealand residency.

We walk together

A Syrian refugee family’s journey to the heart of Europe.

The big chill and the big drill

What was the weather like in Antarctica and what kinds of animals lived there?

A gallery of images related to refugees.

Running (Refugee Song)

A song that raises awareness for the more than 60 million who have been forcibly displaced.

Supporting refugees and asylum seekers

Information about how New Zealand supports refugees.

Migration and refugees

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world's largest humanitarian network.

An overview of refugees

An overview of the global refugee situation, with specific reference to New Zealand’s role.

People on the move

Article about refugees by Amnesty International.

Refugees displaced by war

Syria Is the worst refugee crisis of our generation.

The small African region with more refugees than all of Europe

Hunger follows displaced people around north-east Nigeria, as Boko Haram and climate change drive millions from their homes.

Syrian refugee crisis FAQ: What you need to know

An article containing facts and figures about the Syrian refugee crisis.

The mixing room: stories from young refugees in New Zealand

Rohingya refugees from Myanmar tell of trauma

Article about Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar.

United Nations digital library

Search for data related to UN information, resources, publications, and documents.

Refugees

New Zealand has a strong history in accepting refugees